Florida New Law regarding Independent Contractors
Effective October 1, 2021, Florida employers to report newly retained independent contractors to Florida Department of Revenue*
A new law in effect on October 1, 2021, requires Florida employers to report newly retained independent contractors in the same manner as new employees to the Florida Department of Revenue’s State Directory of New Hires.
The law requires a service recipient to report to the Florida Department of Revenue’s State Directory of New Hires any newly engaged non-employee to whom the service recipient pays more than $600 in a calendar year for services performed by the individual in the course of the service recipient’s trade or business. Previously, the law required only that employers report newly hired employees to the State Directory of New Hires, while reporting independent contractors was optional.
How To Comply
To comply with the law, employers must report: the independent contractor’s name; address; Social Security number (or other identifying number assigned under Section 6109 of the Internal Revenue Code); the date services for payment were first performed by the individual; and the name, address, and employer identification number of the service recipient.
The information may be submitted on the same Florida New Hire Reporting Center website as is used for employees.
This information must be submitted within 20 days after the first payment to the independent contractor or on the date the business and independent contractor entered into the contract, whichever is earlier.
Update Onboarding Procedures
Employers should consider updating their onboarding procedures and reporting schedules to ensure compliance with this reporting requirement. While there is no indication in the law that the Florida Department of Revenue will use this information for auditing purposes or share it with other agencies, this would also be a good time for employers to review worker classifications to ensure independent contractors are properly classified.
Call Gerson Preston Klein Lips Eisenberg & Gelber, P.A.
* The goal of the new reporting requirement is to increase child support collections.