I got some form from the Dept of Commerce a couple years ago. Because I am an independent contractor, it was asking me all kinds of questions about my business. How many employees, type of insurance provided, yadda-yadda. I have been an independent sole proprietor my entire life with a couple noteworthy diversions into employee-hood. But essentially, it's just me, and always has been.
This form they were demanding I fill out according to federal law was asking me all kinds of questions that in the view of my accountant were trying to funnel me into providing thin evidence that I was not actually an independent contractor, but rather an employee of my clients. The questions were chosen just so, and worded just so, that honestly answering them would have given the false impression that I was not an independent contractor, even though according to the strict rules designating contractor status, I qualify in every way.
It felt eerily like the government was probing for an opportunity to pounce. I threw the form in the garbage. I received another one with a stronger demand, and then a follow up letter. That was it. Never heard from them again.
