Statutory Employee

A statutory employee refers to an independent contractor who is qualified as an employee for tax withholding purposes. Employers are not needed to withhold income taxes from a statutory employee’s wages. A worker can be considered as a statutory employee if the employer and individual both pay their share of taxes and Medicare and Social Security taxes. All statutory employees are independent contractors but it’s not necessary that all independent contractors are statutory employees. Independent contractors who can be qualified for the statutory employee include the following:

• Home-based workers
• Life insurance sales agents
• Commission-based drivers
• Travelling or city salesperson