CertifiedSE.com Announces Launch of Certificate of Self-Employment

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That is our business. That is all we do

Washington, DC (PRWEB) May 22, 2009

A new certification business is attracting clients all around the country. CertifiedSE.com is a tax-compliance business founded by tax practitioners whose expertise is focused nearly exclusively on defending companies struggling to comply with independent contracting regulations. The company's proximity and relationships with members of Congress has given them first hand knowledge of the intricacies surrounding the evolving laws of independent contractor status, and the issue has never been hotter. Now, they have developed a preemptive option that enables businesses to better manage and control the legal and regulatory risks associated with doing business with independent contractors, and that enables self-employed entrepreneurs to certify to potential clients that they have established themselves as an independent trade or business.

"As the regulatory risks of worker misclassification continue to escalate, the time has come for companies to proactively protect themselves by obtaining an objective, third-party certification that an individual who claims to be self-employed has taken the appropriate actions to actually be self-employed," explained Russ Hollrah, Founder of CertifiedSE.com. Hollrah has established himself as an expert on the compliance issues revolving around independent contractor status. He has defended companies against these challenges for almost two decades through his legal practice in Washington D.C. During an event to launch the new certificate, Hollrah stated, "I urge companies to take advantage of this unique opportunity."

Certified independent contractors have a material competitive advantage over other independent contractors, because clients and potential clients realize that the regulatory risk is substantially lower for a certified independent contractor than for an independent contractor who is not certified. Client companies typically want to do business with independent contractors in the same manner as they do business with other types of vendors. The problem is that the regulatory risk associated with independent contractors is high; and getting higher. The administrative burden borne by a client company to satisfy its internal risk managers that it is safe to do business with an independent contractor is assuredly not something the client looks forward to.

Independent contractors would now be able to proactively obtain and present to a potential client an independent third-party certification that substantiates the establishment of an independent trade or business. The Certificate of Self-Employment immediately makes contractors more attractive to any potential client - and also to current clients.

Some clients have reacted to the regulatory risk associated with doing business with independent contractors by requiring contractors to register with a "third-party employer of record." These third party firms do not do this for free. They effectively reduce an independent contractor's fees by some percentage which they keep for handling the administrative responsibilities associated with the contractor's "employment." Also, by treating these contractors as employees of the third-party firm, the contractors' ability to deduct business-related expenses is reduced by the infamous "2-percent floor," which provides that employee-based business-related expenses are deductible only to the extent that the total amount of such expenses exceeds two percent of the employee's adjusted gross income. By contrast, as an independent contractor, the business-related expenses are deductible 100% on a Schedule C.

The Certificate of Self Employment creates unprecedented benefits for companies as well, and Hollrah's business is becoming the primary entity that pre-certifies the independent contractors for any client company looking to do business with independent contractors.

A critical factor in sustaining any independent-contractor relationship involves facts unique to each individual, namely, what actions if any has the individual taken to establish an independent business. Too many times, a company will have no information on this critical issue until after the company is notified that the individual's independent-contractor status is being challenged.

CertifiedSE.com is dedicated to conducting due diligence on all individuals before they enter into an independent contractor relationship with any company, to certify that they can produce the facts necessary to establish that, yes, they have established themselves as an independent trade or business. In appropriate cases, the expertise of CertifiedSE.com helps these individual do the things they need to do in order to properly establish themselves as an independent trade or business.

The leaders at CertifiedSE.com bring to this narrow niche a high level of expertise in the laws governing independent-contractor status and--also importantly--an economy of scale.

Whatever business a company is engaged in, it is probably not independent-contractor compliance. "That is our business. That is all we do," emphasized Hollrah. "We can pre-qualify independent contractors doing business with any company with the highest level of efficiency and cost effectiveness."

As a risk management tool, CertifiedSE.com's services are essential, especially in these times of pervasive litigation and government attacks on independent contractors.

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