<prompt> Human: I worked for a wealth management firm in the operations department for three years processing revenue and financial statements but last month I moved to a position at a different company for more paybenefits. I just received an email from one of my former managers stating that the person who was supposed to take over my responsibilities, my former manager, is completely screwing everything up and they want to have me do some consulting work on the side to figure out how to clean things back up and to do some additional trainings. Id like to make some additional money but I want to make sure Im doing everything correctly from a legal and tax standpoint. I doubt this would be a long term situation so Im questioning if I should create a LLC or just have them pay me directly and Ill just pay the taxes on that income in my personal taxes. Also, how much should I be asking for?Unfortunately even though I work in finances Im very green on what I should do in this situation. Im an excel and process guy so Im more used to having the situation told to me and I set up the internal structures. Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated.  <response>: You will almost assuredly be paid as a 1099, Independent Contractor. There is no need to create an LLC, though you can definitely talk to a tax attorney accountant and see if that would be beneficial.I expect that the most common thing will be a sole proprietorship, which is where there is no legal distinction between you and the company.Taxes on this are relatively easy: you get a 1099 and then use your Schedule C to remove expenses for business computers, percentage of cell phone, miles traveled, business travel costs, etc. You pay tax on the profit. Remember to set aside up to 30 of each 1099 paycheck as they dont withhold taxes for you.As for what you should charge: it varies from industry to industry, but to make the SAME per hour, you need to pull about 30 as a 1099, since youll owe both halves of FICA taxes, you wont get health insurance, you wont get vacation days or sick days, etc.In many industries, double an hourly rate is a fair starting point for a contractor. I have seen it go as high as four times an employee hourly rate in computers, since there is so much work that occurs that isnt billable. 