Woman Wins Trucking Tax Dispute

An Arkansas woman has won a victory over the Internal Revenue Service in federal court, where a jury found the agency had erred in assessing her trucking company nearly $150,000 in taxes.

The case centered on whether truck drivers at Sharon Parker Trucking of Greenwood, Ark., were employees or independent contractors. The IRS had claimed the 15 to 20 drivers who worked for the now-defunct company from 1991 through 1993 were technically employees because Parker, who now goes by the name Sharon Parker-Comer, had the right to control the way the work was performed, a criterion long used by the courts to distinguish between employees and contractors.

"It was our position that Sharon Comer didn’t want to be a boss or exercise any control," said attorney Bill Walters, who represents Parker-Comer. "She didn’t tell them what hours to work or what routes to take. She said, ‘I’m going to rent you this truck; go make some money.’ "

According to the IRS, an individual is an independent contractor if the employer has the right "to control or direct only the result of the work and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result."

Walters said his client protested the assessment to the IRS and exhausted all administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit in April 1998.

On Aug. 19, the jury sided with Parker-Comer.

Parker will be refunded the full amount of taxes paid, plus interest and attorney’s fees, which Walters said brings the award to about $200,000.