Transportation 3

The Fair Playing Field Act of 2010 (the “Act”) was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and backed by the Whitehouse this week in an effort to end the current moratorium on Internal Revenue Service guidance addressing worker classification. The Act will require the treasury to release guidelines to help clarify the status of individuals as independent contractors or employees for the purpose of federal employment taxes.

If passed, the Act could significantly impact the ability of transportation (and other) companies to seek the protections afforded by Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978, as amended, reprinted at 27 U.S.C.A. § 3401 note (2008), a safe harbor provision which was intended to prevent the IRS from forcing expensive reclassifications of workers as employees when companies had, in good faith, based upon prior IRS audits, judicial precedent, or significant industry practice, treated the workers consistently as independent contractors for employment tax purposes.

Among other requirements and potential civil penalties for potential or repeated violations, the Act will compel transportation companies that engage independent contractor drivers to provide the drivers with a written statement detailing federal tax obligations imposed on and labor and employment practices denied independent contractors. The notice must further inform the contractors of the ability to request a status determination from the IRS.