Clarifications - Winter 2003 Edition of the FSLG Newsletter
Questions were raised on two specific points with respect to the article, “Who is an Employee?” on page 4 of the Winter edition of the FSLG Newsletter. We want to clarify the following two points:
- Employment Status of Government Workers – Section 218 Agreements:
The article states that workers covered by a 218 Agreement are employees and “are subject to all employment taxes…”. A section 218 Agreement may provide workers with Medicare coverage only. In these cases, employees therefore would be subject to the Medicare portion of FICA only.
- Fee Based Public Officials:
The article states that such fee-based officials may not be employees, and if not, their fees are self-employment income, subject to self-employment tax. It should be noted that in some states fee-based officials are formally covered under the state’s section 218 Agreement. In these cases, the workers are employees, and are subject to FICA and not to self-employment tax.
