Worker classification continues to remains a priority for the IRS.
The Service continues to seek back taxes and issue penalties to firms that have wrongly treated actual employees as independent contractors.
Unreported and underreported employment taxes continue to make up a big chunk of the overall federal tax gap. The Labor and Justice departments and the individual states also have vital roles to play in ensuring that employees/workers are properly classified by the businesses they work for.
The stakes remain high for the government and employees. The lost taxes are the largest issue for federal and state governments and fewer benefits for workers who are improperly treated as contractors.
The importance is magnified with the growth in freelance service gigs, much of it through the sharing economy.