workamping, taxes, and social security

You should get a 1099, not a W-2. Since the "free site" is your compensation. Usually there are no withholdings so you are responsible for the taxes.

If you are an employee, then the employer has to withhold and provide workers comp. Always ask what your status is, as if you are an independent contractor, you do the withholding and SS and provide insurance for injury. But as an independent contractor you need a contract that must be legal with terms like dates, hours, termination should be addressed for you or them to end contact, as who pays what if it happens. You can set up a LLC or a DBA and use cost to reduce income and therefore net due for taxes. Some arrangements are informal and unreported and potentially illegal, leaving one open to cost upon injury and possibly no job security.

I don't know. We've work camped for private, state and federal parks 5 times now and never got a piece of paper from any one of them.

If you feel guilty about not paying any taxes. Financial gifts can be made by check or money order payable to the United States Treasury and mailed to the address below.


Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782

As a condition of our working, as hosts we are required to live on site. We therefore do not receive a 1099 or W-2 for the value of the site. We have had 5 different positions now at private, federal, county and for a concessionaire and no paper.

It varies from one place to another. Most places living on site is a condition of employment and therefore not taxable. Other places have been audited by the IRS and found in violation of the rules so the sites are now treated as taxable income. Can't remember the name right now but I think there's a big outfit in AZ where all sites are taxable now.

curlysue321 wrote:
To those that workamp for a free rv site is there a dollar amount reported for tax purposes and to Social Security. Does one get a W2 at the end of the year? Is it considered taxable income?

The answer is it depends. It is something that should be asked upfront when deciding to take a job. Don't forget to consider the State tax possibility too. If the employer claims the expense of paying you AND the value of the site he gave you as a business expense, then he will report it to the appropriate agency on the appropriate documents.

Path1 wrote:
If you feel guilty about not paying any taxes. Financial gifts can be made by check or money order payable to the United States Treasury and mailed to the address below.


Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782

Yep,will get my check in the mail tomorrow:)

We've had several "site-only" and/or "hours for site" jobs, and always made sure there was mention of "living on site" as a requirement for the job.
The only tax problem we've had was when we were paid a "stipend" at a wildlife refuge in Alaska. They issued a 1099 we never received (address change) and so didn't report it (we've had stipends in the past that didn't need to be reported). Three years later we got a letter from the IRS saying we owed them $xxxx.xx for this "unreported self-employment income". Sent them a Schedule C listing expenses we incurred in travelling to and from AK. Expenses were more than the stipend, so we got a refund check from the IRS (eventually!)

Where we've been camp hosts, it's always as volunteers. Never got any paper from TX, CO, or WY. Don't think I would be interested in volunteering if I had to pay a tax for the site.