Tax Responsibilities in the ‘Sharing Economy’

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson says the IRS needs to do a better job raising awareness of tax responsibilities for those working through Uber, TaskRabit, Etsy, and other “gig economy” companies. These workers usually are independent contractors responsible for reporting their income and paying self-employment tax on net earnings. She suggested the development of a voluntary withholding system and other actions for the IRS to take. It remains to be seen what will be done here.