Your client, Cleveland Business Institute (which will be referred to as “CBI”), is a school that is just starting operating. CBI is located is Cleveland, Missouri, and will specialize in teaching its students business management. Teresa Collier is a finance professor. Teresa has agreed to teach 6 to 10 online finance courses for CBI each year and that they will enter into a separate contract for each course. Each course will last 10 weeks, and CBI will pay Teresa $6,500 for each course. For each course, CBI will provide an outline of the material to be covered, and Teresa will use the outline to create her course syllabus. Teresa will set her own work hours and will record and upload her online classes for student viewing according to her own schedule, but within certain timing requirements set by CBI (so that students can view the classes by set days and time). CBI will provide the website used for the course and will register and enroll CBI students in the course. Teresa will provide CBI with a copy of her course syllabus and the students’ grades at the end of each course. CBI’s payroll supervisor has asked you for guidance regarding whether Teresa will be CBI’s employee and whether the amounts CBI will pay to Teresa will be considered “wages” for federal employment tax purposes.
