What does it mean that I am an independent contractor?
Tagg is a web-based application that helps you get substitute teaching requests. Think of it like Uber for substitute teaching. Jobs are sent out to all available subs at the same time (unless a specific sub is requested) and the first to accept, gets it. You choose when to work, what schools to work at, and how much you are willing to work for. For this reason, you are a self-employed independent contractor. You are not an employee of Tagg or our partner schools. You simply use Tagg to gain access to schools that rely on our software to request substitutes each day. Anyone can sign up as long as they have a Bachelor’s degree and pass a background check.
How do taxes work?
Taxes With Tagg
As a substitute teacher using the Tagg platform, you work for yourself as an independent contractor. You choose your pay rate and hours. Because of this, taxes will work a little differently. Instead of a W-2 form that you may be used to receiving, you will get a 1099 form each year.
Unlike a salaried position, Tagg does not withhold taxes from your earnings. For this reason the government requires you to pay income tax and self-employment tax in lieu of these withholdings.
Tax Forms
If you earn $600 or more during the year, you will receive a 1099 tax form by January 31 from Tagg. Thanks to our payment partner, Stripe, and their work with Payable, receiving tax forms electronically has never been easier or more secure.
In early January, you will receive an email from us inviting you to create a free Payable account which will allow you to receive your 1099-MISC. In addition, it will allow you to make sure we have all of your information recorded correctly.
The 1099 form includes how much you made from your jobs using the Tagg Platform. You will use this 1099 to file your taxes.
Estimated Taxes
As an independent contractor, depending on how much you think you will owe at tax time, you may be required to submit estimated quarterly payments of income and self-employment taxes. To find out if this applies to you, we suggest visiting the IRS website.
Tax Resources
Tagg customer support representatives are not tax professionals and will not be able to offer advice or answer questions in relation to filing taxes. For this reason, we suggest using resources such as the IRS website or reaching out to a tax professional to learn more about your tax obligations.
Self Employment Tax Center: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-center
Estimated Taxes Information:
https://www.irs.gov/faqs/estimated-tax/individuals/individuals
Managing and recording payments
As an independent contractor it is important that you keep track of your payments. While you will receive a 1099-MISC in January detailing how much you made through Tagg for the previous year, you will not receive a detailed list of all of your jobs. Also, since you may be responsible for paying estimated taxes (see above), it is a good idea to keep track of your completed jobs in case you need to reconcile them with what information is in your Tagg account. To see a list of all of your jobs you have worked, you can view them on the “Jobs” page. You can also view payments for these jobs on your “Payment History” Page.
Viewing Payments
You can view all of your past and processing payments on your “Payments History” page. To navigate to this page, click “Payment History” in the green menu on your calendar homepage.
On this page, a list should automatically populate with the past months payments. You will be able to see the following information for each payment:
- Job number (or whatever ties it to stripe…statement descriptor or alternative option)
- School
- Teacher
- Job Date
- Transaction Date
- Pay rate
- Status
- “Pending: This payment is still processing. Payments take 14 to 19 days from the date of the job to be deposited in your bank account”
- “Complete: This means that the payment has been completed and has been deposited in your bank account”
- “Cancelled”: This means that the job was cancelled by the school or by Tagg because there was a discrepancy with this job”
At the top of the page, you can filter your view by:
- School
- Teacher
- Status
- Date start
- Date end
You also have the ability to export any payment data by click “Download Report” in the top right of the page. Filter your record to show particular information from the homepage column.