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Chelle Law
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  • Medical Contract Attorney
    • Dentist Contract Attorney
      • Dental Associate Employment Contracts 
        • Can a Dental Associate Break Their Contract?
        • How a Dentist Should Negotiate a Contract |  Negotiating Dental Agreement
        • How is a Dentist Given a Draw in a Contract? | Dental Contracts with a Draw
        • Red Flags in a Dentist Employment Contract | Dental Employment Agreement Concerns
        • What Should a Dentist put in a Termination Letter? | Dental Contract
      • Dental Malpractice Insurance
        • Claims Made Insurance for a Dental Associate Explained | Same as Occurrence Claim for Dentists?
        • How Much Does Tail Insurance Cost for a Dentist?
        • Occurrence Based Insurance for a Dental Associate Explained | Different From Claims Made for Dentists
        • Dental Claims Made or Occurrence Insurance? (Professional Liability)
        • What is Tail Insurance for a Dentist? |  Malpractice Insurance for Dentists
      • Dental Non Compete Clause
        • Dental Associate Non Compete vs Non Solicit | Solicitation Concerns for Dentists
        • Dental Non Compete Mile Radius Explained | Non Compete for a Dentist
        • Dental Non Compete (How Long is ENFORCEABLE?)
        • Dentist Non Compete Restricted Offices Explained | Restrictive Covenants in Dental Practice
        • Is a Non-Compete Enforceable Against a Dentist? | Dentist Non Competition Enforceability
      • Dental Contract Benefits 
        • Dentist Employment Agreement (Bonus REPAYMENT?)
        • How Much PTO Should a Dental Associate Get? | How Many Days of Time Off Should a Dentist Get?
        • How Much Should a Dentist Get for CE Expenses? | Continuing Education Cost for a Dental Associate
        • Should a Dentist be Reimbursed for Moving Expenses? | Dental Expenses
        • What Expenses Should a Dental Practice Pay For a Dentist?: Dentistry Office Expense Costs for the Dentist to Be Reimbursed
      • Dental Independent Contractor Agreements
        • Are Dentists Usually Self Employed?
        • Dentist Independent Contractor Tax Deductions
        • Dentist Independent Contractor vs Employee | Dental Employees vs Independent Contractors
        • Is a W2 or 1099 Better for a Dental Associate?
        • What Is a 1099 Dentist?
    • Nurse Practitioner Contract Attorney
      • Nurse Practitioner Employment Contracts
        • Can a Nurse Practitioner Break Their Contract?
        • How a Nurse Practitioner Should Negotiate a Contract
        • Red Flags in a Nurse Practitioner Employment Contract
        • What is the Most Common Nurse Practitioner Compensation Model?
        • What Needs to go in a Nurse Practitioner Termination Letter?
      • Nurse Practitioner Malpractice Insurance
        • Claims Made Insurance for a Nurse Practitioner Explained
        • How Much Does Tail Insurance Cost for a Nurse Practitioner?
        • Occurrence Based Insurance for a Nurse Practitioner Explained
        • Should a Nurse Practitioner Choose Claims Made or Occurrence?
        • Tail Insurance for a Nurse Practitioner Explained
      • Nurse Practitioner Non Compete Clauses
        • How Many Locations Should a Nurse Practitioner Non Compete Apply To?
        • Nurse Practitioner Non-Competes (ENFORCEABLE?)
        • Is a 2 Year Non Compete for a Nurse Practitioner Reasonable? | NP Non Compete
        • Nurse Practitioner Non-Compete (Is it ENFORCEABLE?)
        • Nurse Practitioner Non Compete vs Non Solicit
      • Nurse Practitioner Contract Benefits
        • Does a Nurse Practitioner Repay a Bonus if the Contract is Terminated?
        • Nurse Practitioner PTO (How MUCH Should You GET?)
        • Nurse Practitioner Relocation (How MUCH Is Enough?)
        • Nurse Practitioner Benefits Package (What Is FAIR?)
        • What Nurse Practitioner Expenses Should an Employer Pay For?
      • Nurse Practitioner Independent Contract Agreements
        • Is a W2 or 1099 Better for a Nurse Practitioner?
        • Nurse Practitioner Independent Contractor Tax Deductions
        • Nurse Practitioner Independent Contractor vs Employee
        • Nurse Practitioner Self Employed vs Independent Contractor
        • What is a 1099 Nurse Practitioner?
    • Optometrist Contract Attorney
    • Physician Contract Attorney
      • Medical Employment Contracts
        • J-1
          • ECFMG Certification Requirements | Certification Requirement
        • How Long Should a Physician Contract Be?
        • Should a Physician Accept an Arbitration Clause? | Medical Agreements
        • What is the Best Without Cause Termination Length in a Physician Contract? | Physician Dismissal
      • Medical Malpractice Insurance
        • Understanding Claims-Made Insurance (Is Occurrence BETTER?)
        • Occurrence Insurance (Is Tail Coverage NEEDED?)
        • Occurrence Based Malpractice (What SHOULD a Physician Choose?)
        • Tail Coverage Insurance (How EXPENSIVE Is It for a Physician?)
        • Physician Tail Coverage (Do Doctors PAY with Claims Made?)
        • Tail Insurance Cost for a Physician (Malpractice Insurance Cost)
        • 3 Ways a Physician Can Get Out of Paying for Tail Insurance | Medical Liability
      • Non-Compete Agreements
        • Is 10 Miles a Reasonable Restriction in a Physician Non-Compete?
        • Is a 2-Year Physician Non-Compete Too Long?
        • How Many Locations Should a Physician Non-Compete Apply to?
        • Is a Non-Compete Enforceable Against a Physician? | Physician Non-Compete
      • Medical Professional Contract Benefits
        • How Much Should an Employer Give a Physician for CME Expenses?
        • What Physician Business Expenses Should an Employer Pay For?
        • How Much Vacation Time Do Doctors Get?
        • Physician Relocation (How MUCH Reimbursement Should You Get?)
        • Hospital Sign on Bonus Pay Back | Repay a Bonus When Doctor Leaves?
        • Does A Physician Have to Repay Relocation Assistance If They Leave?
      • Independent Contractor Agreements
        • Can a Physician Be an Independent Contractor?
        • Physician Independent Contractor vs Employee
        • Is a W2 or 1099 Better for a Physician? | Physicians Contract
        • What is a 1099 Physician?
        • What Percentage of Physicians are Self-Employed?
    • Physician Assistant Contract Attorney
      • Physician Assistant Employment Contracts
        • Can a Physician Assistant Break Their Contract?
        • How To Negotiate a PA Contract (Better Salary TIPS)
        • Red Flags in a Physician Assistant Employment Contract?
        • How Are PAs Compensated? (2 BEST Ways To Get PAID)
        • What Should Go Into a Physician Assistant Termination Letter?
      • Physician Assistant Malpractice Insurance
        • How Much Does Tail Insurance Cost for a Physician Assistant? | Malpractice Insurance
        • Physician Assistant Malpractice Insurance (Do You NEED Claims Made?)
        • Tail Insurance for a Physician Assistant Explained
        • What is Claims Made Insurance for a Physician Assistant?
        • Occurrence Based Insurance for a PA (Malpractice Basics)
      • Physician Assistant Non Compete Clauses
        • How Many Locations Should a Physician Assistant Non Compete Apply To?
        • Is 10 Miles a Reasonable Non Compete for a Physician Assistant?
        • Is a 2 Year Non Compete for a Physician Assistant Reasonable?
        • Is a Non Compete Enforceable Against a Physician Assistant?
        • Physician Assistant Non Compete vs Non Solicit | Compete vs Solicitation
      • Physician Assistant Contract Benefits
        • Physician Assistant Sign-On Bonus (Will You Have to Give it BACK?)
        • How Much Paid Time Off Should a Physician Assistant Get?
        • Should a Physician Assistant be Reimbursed for Moving Expenses?
        • What Benefits Should Go In a Physician Assistant Offer Letter?
        • What Physician Assistant Expenses Should an Employer Pay For?
      • Physician Assistant Independent Contractor Agreements
        • Can a Physician Assistant be Self Employed?
        • Is a W2 or 1099 Better for a Physician Assistant?
        • Physician Assistant Independent Contractor Tax Deductions
        • Physician Assistant Independent Contractor vs Employee
        • What is a 1099 Physician Assistant?
    • Veterinarian Contract Attorney
      • Veterinary Associate Employment Contracts
        • Can You Break a Veterinary Associate Contract?
        • Veterinary Production Based Salary (Compensation Calculator)
        • How to Negotiate a Veterinary Associate Contract?
        • Red Flags in a Veterinary Associate Contract
        • What Should be in a Veterinary Associate Termination Letter?
      • Veterinary Malpractice Insurance
        • What is AVMA Excess Limit Coverage?
        • What is AVMA Veterinary License Defense Insurance?
        • What is Occurrence Insurance for a Veterinarian?
        • What is the AVMA PLIT?
        • Veterinary Malpractice Insurance (Do Vets NEED Tail Coverage?)
      • Veterinary Non Compete Agreements
        • How Many Locations Should a Veterinary Non Compete Apply To?
        • Is a Non Compete Enforceable Against a Veterinarian (ETHICAL?)
        • Veterinarian Non Solicit vs Non Compete
        • Veterinary Non Compete Mile Radius Explained
        • Veterinary Non Compete Time Limits Explained
      • Veterinary Professional Contract Benefits
        • How Much PTO Should a Veterinary Associate Get?
        • Veterinary Continuing Education (Is $2000 TOO Much?)
        • Veterinarian Sign-On Bonus (Must You Pay It BACK?)
        • Should a Veterinarian be Reimbursed for Moving Expenses?
        • What Veterinarian Business Expenses Should an Employer Pay For?
      • Veterinary Independent Contractor Agreements
        • Pros and Cons of Employment at a Corporate Veterinary Office
        • Should a Veterinarian be a W2 or a 1099?
        • Veterinarian Independent Contractor Tax Deductions
        • Veterinary Independent Contractor vs Employee
        • What is a 1099 Veterinarian?
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Veterinary Independent Contractor vs Employee | Veterinarian Employment

Difference between an Employee vs an Independent Contractor

Veterinary independent contractor vs employee, what is the difference between being an employee versus an independent contractor as a veterinarian?  First, if you’re in corporate practice, which is increasingly more and more likely, you are an employee. And as an employee, you’ll receive a W2 and then taxes will be withheld from whatever your compensation is on whatever the scheduled pay period is for your employment. As an independent contractor, you’ll be a 1099, which means no taxes will be withheld from any of the compensation that you receive from the veterinary clinic that you’re working with. And then at the end of the year, you would be responsible for paying the self-employment taxes and whatever else is necessary.

Clinical Practice and Legal Classification Concerns

Let’s talk about the benefits and drawbacks of each. One of the major perks of being an employee is the professional benefits offered. You’re going to get health, vision, dental, life, disability, and retirement. They’re going to pay for your continuing education, licensing, and DEA registration. You’re going to get paid time off most likely. As an employee, you’re not going to have to worry about obtaining any of those types of insurance as well. They’re also likely going to pay for your malpractice insurance, although as a vet, almost everyone uses the AVMA PLIT for malpractice insurance, and it’s extremely affordable for most veterinarians unless you’re doing it like an equine. Those are the benefits of being an employee. Now, as an independent contractor, you won’t get any of those things, so you’re going to be responsible for covering the cost of all of the things I just talked about, and you’re not going to get any paid time off.

You’re going to have to pay for your own malpractice insurance, your own licensing, DEA, and then you’re going to have to obtain health, vision, dental, life, and retirement if you so choose which for many people is just something they’re not interested in doing. Now, if you are a 1099 independent contractor, then what you should do is create an LLC, get a tax EIN from the IRS, create a bank account, and run all your compensation expenses through that account. And then you’ll be able to deduct all those expenses as tax write-offs. I would suggest if you are going to work as an independent contractor, and most of the time, this is for people who are maybe working part-time for a clinic, they’re not going to be working on a full-time basis. Other topics of interest include:

  • Veterinarian Independent Contractor Tax Deductions
  • Should a Veterinarian be a W2 or a 1099?

Maybe if they’re in emergency medicine, they’re just filling in occasionally. In that scenario, it would make sense to be an independent contractor. Whereas if you’re working full-time, nine to five, five days a week for a clinic, then you really should be classified as an employee. As I was saying before, if you are going to work as an independent contractor, I would suggest reaching out to an accountant and then having them assist you in setting up all the things I just spoke about. And then they’ll be able to give you the best advice on how to maximize your tax deductions. Now, a couple of areas of concern: some small employers like a vet-owned clinic will misclassify what should be employees as independent contractors, just so they don’t have to pay employment tax.

Normally, it’s somewhere between 10 to 12%. An employer must pay employment tax on their employees. And so, some people try to get out of having to pay that by classifying them as independent contractors. The IRS lists a 20-factor test that determines whether someone is an actual employee versus an independent contractor. I would suggest if you were concerned that you’re being misclassified, I would look at that list. And then if you do think you’re being misclassified, I would discuss that with your employer to make sure you’re being properly identified. Is one better than the other? It just simply depends upon the situation that the vet is in. Many times, vets have no interest in obtaining all the insurance, health, vision, and dental, as I stated before.

And the employment route makes absolute sense for them. Whereas others, maybe they’re a little more entrepreneurial and they’re going to work for three different clinics or mobile or whatever. And in that scenario, it makes sense to work as an independent contractor.

Veterinary Non-Employee Tax Deductions

What are the tax deductions a veterinary associate can make if they are classified as an independent contractor? First, if you are an employee of a veterinary practice, you’ll receive W2 at the end of the year, and taxes will be withheld from your regularly scheduled paychecks. Whereas if you’re an independent contractor, you’ll receive a 1099 at the end of the year, and no taxes will be withheld from your compensation, you will be responsible for paying for all those taxes. What are the benefits of being an independent contractor? Well, it makes the most sense to be an independent contractor when you’re working part-time for an employer. For instance, maybe you’re in emergency veterinary care and you’re only going to work maybe one or two weekends a month.

In that situation, it doesn’t really make sense to be an employee. It makes more sense to be an independent contractor. As an employee, you will get all the ancillary benefits. The veterinary practice should pay for your licensing, DEA registration, continuing education reimbursement, signing bonus, and moving expenses if you’re moving from out of state. And then they’re also going to offer health, vision, dental, disability, and life retirement. The employer will cover all those things. When you are an independent contractor, you will get none of those things covered. You are responsible to pay for all of that yourself.  Now, does that mean you are at a disadvantage compensation-wise? Well, no, if you do the, I guess, correct things, and the correct things would be if you’re going to work as an independent contractor, you need to create an LLC.

You need to meet with an accountant to kind of go over the best way to maximize your tax deductions. You need to get an EIN from the IRS, you need to create a bank account, you need to run all the compensation expenses through that bank account so you can track them appropriately. Those are the things you need to do to make sure that you’re setting yourself up to be able to take the tax deductions when you’re ultimately filing taxes at the end of the year. What are those things you can do? Alright, well, all the things I just discussed can be used as tax deductions. So, your license, DEA, CE, any kind of business expenses, your home office, if you’re using that to prepare in some way, although that’d be tough as vet, travel, you could depreciate other assets if you have them for the business, malpractice insurance, licensing board, and defense insurance, all those things can be used as tax deductions when you’re an independent contractor.

Which Practice Areas have 1099 Employment?

Now, a couple of considerations, one, if you’re an independent contractor, the employer is not going to have to pay any employment tax on you. So, they are usually saving around 10 to 12% of your total compensation. They also do not have to spend any amount of money on the benefits, which can be costly at times. If you’re working as an independent contractor for somebody, you should expect to make a little bit more because the employer is saving on all of those things. If you’re making the exact same amount as somebody who’s working as an employee for a practice, you’re missing out. You should have at least some leverage and point out to them all the things that they’re saving on for you to have some kind of increase. Now, how much? It depends.

I mean, probably somewhere between 5% to 15% of a bump over someone else who’s working as an employee would make financial sense for the employer. But whether they’re willing to do that or not, I can’t tell you, but everything is in negotiation. If you’re given an agreement, those are certain things you can push for because the employer is saving when classifying you as an independent contractor. I know I mentioned this, but I’m just going to drive it home. You should absolutely meet with an accountant prior to signing any kind of independent contractor agreement. You need to have the business structures set up properly in advance and know exactly what you can and can’t deduct at the end of the year, which you should run through the bank account. It makes no sense to just sign an agreement and start without having any of those things in place. You could miss out on detecting a lot of valuable business expenses.

Consultation with Chelle Law

When your veterinary contract is analyzed by an experienced attorney, you will find financial benefits which end up outweighing the cost of the review. Leave it to the experts. If you are in need of assistance with a veterinary agreement or contract analysis schedule a Veterinarian Agreement Review with Chelle Law today!

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Links of Interest

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  • Veterinarian Contract Attorney
    • Veterinary Associate Employment Contracts
    • Veterinary Malpractice Insurance
    • Veterinary Non Compete Agreements
    • Veterinary Professional Contract Benefits
    • Veterinary Independent Contractor Agreements
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Based on 174 reviews
Destinee Hamlet
Destinee Hamlet
2023-01-31
Everyone was very helpful and professional. Felicia answered all my questions and made the process super easy and stress free.
Gabriela Martinez
Gabriela Martinez
2023-01-29
Definitely recommend! I’m a nurse practitioner and was able to renegotiate my contract with the help of Chelle Law. The outcomes were above expectations.
Linda Price
Linda Price
2023-01-27
I placed my trust in Chelle Law to handle my issue with the State Board of Nursing and they did not disappoint. Service was professional and courteous. I could not have asked for a better outcome. I highly recommend this firm!
Anni R
Anni R
2023-01-25
I had a great experience with Chelle Law. I’m so glad I found them and hired their services. Their communication was on point 👌 they’re very professional, always kept me updated, always returned my calls and emails in a timely manner. They’re compassionate and understanding of every situation. I would 100% use them again and refer them to anyone.
Chin Kim
Chin Kim
2023-01-24
Great hep overall. Fast response and even it was an hour review, the attorney stayed on the phone longer to answer all my questions.
Amelia
Amelia
2023-01-20
Booking the consultation was easy and I got all my questions answered! Excellent customer service.
Steven Yang
Steven Yang
2023-01-18
I am a veterinarian about 3 years+ out from school changing jobs for the first time since graduating . The idea of needing to closely review a contract was foreign to me and I honestly had no idea what I would be signing . Luckily I found Chelle law and worked with Erin who put all my worries at ease . She took the time and even went over our scheduled time slot to review / translate every section of my contract and make valuable suggestions that I could bring up to my future employer. Throughout our discussion it was clear to me that Chelle law is very familiar with the intricacies of a veterinary contract and what it typically should entail. I was very pleased with my experience .
Tiffany Efantis
Tiffany Efantis
2023-01-11
I used Chelle law for a non-compete clause review. I was referred to them by a friend. They were helpful, quick, and affordable for what I needed. I will definitely use them again for any employment contract review in the future!
Nicholas Peracchio
Nicholas Peracchio
2022-12-13
Erin was so thorough with my contract I felt extremely confident in my negotiations and ended up getting everything I wanted and more! I can’t recommend her enough. She took her time and made sure I understood everything I was signing and did so with a kind and caring demeanor. Thanks so much Erin!!
Seth Bricel
Seth Bricel
2022-12-13
I needed a lawyer to review my partnership contract and Chelle Law provided a great experience at a fair price. My lawyer thoroughly explained the meaning of the contract in terms I could understand and provided valuable perspective as to which parts were normal and which parts were atypical or in need of modification. Thanks to their help, I've reached a contract that I and my partners are very happy with!

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