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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/founder-no-magic-number-factors

How many IRS factors must point to "employee" before a worker counts as an employee?

There is no set number: you weigh the whole relationship.

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  1. Exactly 20 of the factors
  2. More than half of the factors
  3. No set number; weigh the whole relationship ✔

Why: The IRS says there is no magic number of factors and no single factor decides it. You look at the entire relationship and how much right you have to direct and control the worker.

Huh, didn't know that: A factor that matters in one job may not matter at all in another.

The dad joke
Why did the worker bring a ladder to the IRS test? To see if the job was over their head.
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References

Answer: No set number; weigh the whole relationship. The IRS says there is no magic number of factors and no single factor decides it. You look at the entire relationship and how much right you have to direct and control the worker.

  1. IRS: Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee? www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee
    There is no “magic” or set number of factors that “makes” the worker an employee or an independent contractor
    Checked 2026-10-11.

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Test yourself in the game

Starting and Running a BusinessThe IRS sorts evidence about whether a worker is an employee into which three categories?Starting and Running a BusinessWho can file IRS Form SS-8 to ask the IRS to decide if a worker is an employee or a contractor?Starting and Running a BusinessA worker does your tasks from home, but you control what they do and how. To the IRS, they are usually what?

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