statutory employee

A statutory employee is a worker who is technically self-employed but is treated by the IRS as an official employee for tax purposes. Statutory employees have often been considered to be hybrid workers, as they’re partially employees, but also partial independent contractors. As long as the employer and employee both pay their share of Medicare and Social Security taxes, then it is valid to consider them a statutory employee. 

Overall, statutory employees receive some of the tax benefits of self-employment, such as deductions, while also getting the payroll tax simplicity of being an employee. But they take on more risk and expenses than regular employees by not having access to typical employee benefits.