Small Business

No. You can choose not to carry back your NOL. If you make this choice, then you can use your NOL only in the carryforward period. (This choice means you also choose not to carry back any alternative tax NOL.)
To make this choice, attach a statement to your original return filed by the due date (including extensions) for the NOL year. This statement must show that you are choosing to waive the carryback period under section 172(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
If you filed your return timely but did not file the statement with it, you must file the statement with an amended return for the NOL year within 6 months of the due date of your original return (excluding extensions). Enter “Filed pursuant to section 301.9100-2” at the top of the statement.
Once you choose to waive the carryback period, it generally is irrevocable. If you choose to waive the carryback period for more than one NOL, you must make a separate choice and attach a separate statement for each NOL year.
Speak to your local CPA about the tax strategies invovled and the election form that must accompany the current year's return that caused the net operating loss.

If, in the current year, your taxable income is a negative amount due to a large business loss, then it appears you have a net operating loss. Simply stated, a net operating loss is the excess of allowable deductions over your gross income computed under the law in effect for that loss year with the required adjustments. On Nov. 6, 2009, President Obama signed The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which included provisions that extend the net operating loss (NOL) carryback period to five years for taxpayers incurring losses in tax years ending after Dec. 31, 2007 and beginning before Jan. 1, 2010. Typically, taxpayers are allowed to carryback an NOL to the previous two years, or may elect to forgo the carryback of an NOL and just carry forward an NOL. You can choose not to carry back your NOL. If you make this choice, then you can use your NOL only in the 20-year carryforward period. (This choice means you also choose not to carry back any alternative tax NOL.) Speak to your local CPA about filing IRS Form 1045 or about filing an amended return 1040X to use the carryback NOL.

When the general business credit exceeds the limitation in the current year, the excess or unused credit may be carried back 1 year and forward 20 years. Speak to your local CPA about carrying back a unused credit and filing an amended IRS, Form 1040X to claim the current year's unused credit.

From the employer's point of view, it is always better for the worker to be treated as an independent contractor.
The employer can save Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, workers compensation insurance, disability insurance and unemployment taxes which are all mandatory payroll related expenses.
Employers which have pension and medical benefit insurance plans cannot discriminate and must include virtually all full time employees that meet certain requirements.
For this reason it usually pays to be an employee.
However the truth is, the status of whether one can be properly treated as an independent contractor is not so clear cut.
There is a 20 factor test used to determine ones status.
Please contact a CPA in your area to ascertain how these rules apply to your situation

Yes. The federal penalties are steep.
If an owner treated the worker as an independent contractor but did not file 1099s, the IRS can levy severe penalties against you, including a 3 percent penalty for failure to withhold income tax.
You would also owe the full employer portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes plus 40 percent of the employee's portion, which comes to 8.68 percent for Social Security and 2.03 percent for Medicare.
Please consult with a CPA in your state to determine any state penalties which could be assessed.

The only tax advantage to being treated as an independent contractor is that your business expenses are not subject to a 2% limitation of your adjusted gross income. The self-employment taxes you pay are net of any business expenses. Independent Contractors who are sole proprietors must file Schedule C.

Although you should have received a Form 1099, there is no excuse for not reporting income you earned during the year.
The burden of reporting is your responsibility, whether you receive a Form 1099 or not.
The penalties for failure to report income can be severe and can be deemed criminal in the worst of cases. Always report all income earned.

There are three safe harbor provisions: judicial precedent, failure of the IRS to question the status in a prior audit, and industry practice.
To qualify for Safe Harbor protection, you must satisfy just three requirements: you must have filed all required 1099-MISC forms reporting to the IRS your payments to the workers in question you consistently treated the workers involved and others doing substantially similar work as ICs, and you had a reasonable basis--that is, a good reason--for treating the workers as Independent contractors.

If the additional costs you incurred on your business trip were because your boss extended over a weekend to take advantage of a reduced airfare, they are deductible on either IRS Schedule C, Schedule 2106 or as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A.