<HTML>Rob. I would suspect the people who claim they are with the government and want to collect workmen's comp insurance directly from you. Workmen's comp insurance is paid through an insurance company. The government doesn't collect this money directly. (This must a state agent, because the federal government doesn't pay workman's comp) But you have to pay the insurance in the first place. An employer pays workman's comp insurance for the employees to whom they pay a paycheck. In other words, unless the store deducts taxes from you, you are not an employee of the company. Since you are a subcontractor, you don't get a paycheck, so the employer doesn't pay workman's comp. Now, if the government tells you YOU have to pay workman's comp insurance, that might be a different story. In Missouri, self employed people do not have to carry workmen's' comp insurance on themselves, unless they want to. In fact, an employer doesn't have to carry workmen's comp on employees unless they have more than 5 employees. The downside is that if one of the employees gets hurt on the job, the employer is liable for all the bills and long term care, including permanent disability claims. I would question this "government" agent before giving him/her a check. I smell something fishy. As far as deductions are concerned, as many have suggested, find a good CPA and let him/her find all the loop holes. There are more than we will ever know. They are worth the money you pay them to figure out your taxes. Willem In a message dated 4/12/01 6:11:57 PM Central Daylight Time, rrg@nevada.edu writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">The ultimate oxymoron...  "Hi, I from the government... I'm here to help".   The dealer that we, (Alan Meyer and I), install PianoDisc systems for just went through an audit.  Although we are NOT employees but rather subcontractors, they say we should have been paying some sort of workers comp this past year to the dealer.  Unless we can prove otherwise they are going to stiff each of us with a $600.00 bill!  I have never heard of such a thing.  How does this work?  Are there any loop holes?  That is a huge amount of money that we are being asked to pay every year to satisfy a useless bureaucracy.  Help! I also need to find more right-offs for my taxes BAD.  I have really gotten burned this year by the IRS.   We could buy four big screen TVs each equipped with surround sound and a DVD player for what we are going to have to pay this year.  QUESTION:  I recall in the past that there was a half day seminar at the PTG in the past on how to find ways for techs to reduce their taxes.  Does anyone know if they are running that one again this year?  I think I need to be in it! Rob Goodale, RPT </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>