One other thing to consider on 1099 v W-2 is how is it that an aerial survey pilot is considered an "independent contractor" in the first place? The IRS has a series of tests to determine whether an employee is classified correctly or not. Some of these tests include "does the employee provide their own equipment?" or "does the employee have significant control over their own schedule.?" If you're flying a company owned and assigned aircraft, and flying a schedule dictated by the company on a regular basis, then maybe we're not really upholding the spirit of regulations. (http://www.twc.state.tx.us/news/efte/appx_d_irs_ic_test.html)
Recent case law has tightened up on employers who try and skirt these tests. For example, FedEx tried to treat its acquired ground unit as an independent contractor shop and spent several years in litigation (http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/article...arent-employees-dot-the-courts-will-decide#p1) arguing as much in an effort to avoid paying overtime, dodge collective bargaining, avoid paying unemployment insurance, etc. Over the last few months FedEx has either lost decisions, or settled, in several federal courts. While there are plenty of companies who try to skirt taxes and labor law by filing independent contractor, both the IRS and Dept of Labor are cracking down as they should. (Also see Uber: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/b...at-says-drivers-should-be-employees.html?_r=0)
So taking my MBA hat off, where it hurts low time pilots is financially come tax time like I mentioned earlier in the thread. You'll need to pay estimated tax quarterly, with a penalty for under payment, so you'd better run those numbers correctly (Let's assume we're in the 15% tax bracket). Then come filing season you'd better have set aside sufficient funds to cover your payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare) that would've otherwise been 50% withheld from paychecks and 50% employer funded. You're looking at roughly 15% of your taxable income right there. Speaking of taxable income, have fun getting creative with deductions (I've played the airline crew deduction game before, and my advice is to read up carefully on what's allowable) on your 1040 to try and drive down your taxable income in the first place, and make sure you save your receipts in case of audit.
Yes, it sounds pretty cool getting $100-120/day in per diem as an "independent contractor" until you realize that you're responsible for using that to cover hotel, rental car/transport, and food. I had enough of shacking up with a couple other dudes when I was in the service, but if that's your thing, then enjoy doing that every day on the road to stretch your dollar. I'll gladly take SkyLens' policy of company paid single pilot hotel room (never thought I'd be gunning for elite status in Wyndham Rewards, but no complaints), company paid shared rental car, and $25-30 a day for incidentals on top of a daily guaranteed salary as a legit employee. Plus, "soft pay" sorts of things like paid airline ticket at beginning and end of season, flight time performance pay (144 hours last month meant another $800+ in my pocket), end of season bonus money, etc. By all means, break out Excel and run a $ line by line between all the picto companies, but on quality of life alone I'm satisfied.
Disclosure: The opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent those of my employer.
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