William Andrews | October 6, 2021
On June 16, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1532 into law, which requires Florida businesses to submit a report to the State Directory of New Hires for each individual who is not an employee but is paid $600 or more per calendar year. Specifically, effective Friday, October 1, 2021, Florida businesses that have paid an independent contractor $600 or more in a calendar year must submit new hire information 20 days after the first payment to the independent contractor or the date on which the business and the independent contractor entered into the contract, whichever is earlier. Previously, the law only required employers to provide a report for their employees to the State Director of New Hires and made it optional for businesses to provide the same information for independent contractors. This new law is somewhat surprising since it emanated from a Republican dominated legislature.
The report must include the (1) name, (2) address, (3) social security number or other identifying number assigned to the individual under Section 6109 of the Internal Revenue Code, (4) the date the services for payment were first rendered by the individual, and (5) the name, address, and employer identification number of the business recipient. Questions on reporting can be submitted to the Florida New Hire Reporting Center at 888-854-4791 or email newhiresupport@floridarevenue.com.
It is not yet clear what the Department of Revenue intends to do with this information. Given the state will now have increased access to independent contractor information, businesses should consider performing an audit of their worker classification to ensure that any independent contractor you use are properly classified.