Small Business

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.

Yes. Section 530 of the Internal Revenue Code provides an exclusion that pertains to a worker who is not treated as an employee.
The exclusion mandates that: that the employer never treated the worker as an employee; did not hold out any other worker holding a similar position as an employee; filed form 1099 in a timely fashion for that worker; and had a reasonable basis for treating the worker as an independent contractor.

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.

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.

The following unreimbursed business trip costs are deductible: tips, telephone, fax, airplane, railroad, taxi, other transportation fees, hotel and lodging, meal costs (50% deductible),laundry and cleaning, and entertainment.
All business trip deductions should be listed in a diary stating the time, place and business purpose of the meetings.

Physician's assistants and practical nurses are subject to different certification and registration requirements under state law and they perform different duties.
The costs would be considered as qualifying for a new business or profession and therefore not deductible.