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$60/hr contract is not $60/hr. Here is what it actually is.
Contract rates are inflated by everything an employer normally absorbs: half your FICA, your health insurance, and every vacation day. This calculator strips those out of any 1099 rate and shows the W-2 salary it truly equals — so a job offer and a contract offer become comparable numbers.
Anyone weighing a contract offer against a salary offer uses it to make the numbers comparable — recruiters quote 1099 rates knowing they look bigger. It prices the invisible costs (FICA, insurance, unpaid weeks) that decide whether the contract is actually a raise.
The classic rule is 1.25×–1.4× the W-2 wage for the same work. This calculator shows your personal number: extra FICA is about 7.1% of gross, individual health insurance runs $5,000–$8,000/yr, and three unpaid weeks off costs about 5.8% of gross. Below 1.2× you are almost certainly underpaid as a contractor.
Yes, and it can be big: the QBI deduction shelters up to 20% of qualified business income from income tax, business expenses come off the top (home office, equipment, mileage), and a Solo 401(k) allows much larger retirement contributions than most employer plans. Run the quarterly tax calculator for the SE-tax side of the picture.
Not legally. If they control your hours, tools, and how the work is done, the IRS considers you an employee regardless of the label — misclassification is their liability, not yours. The IRS SS-8 form exists precisely for workers who suspect this.