Best thing ever done with an iPhone <| sep |> I ' m an independent contractor . Essentially , you ' re weighing up employee status where some of your obligations are paid for by your employer ACC , Kiwisaver , vs independent contractor status where it ' s on you to do so GST possibly , ACC . On top of that , employers have a stronger obligation to their employees than they would do to a contractor . You ' re going to have to do some maths . Quick back of envelope calculations you definitely need to do this yourself , pm me if you need suggests $ 19 is bordering on competitive although I ' d be inclined to push them . Factor in all the niceties you ' d expect as an employee , expenses like annual leave , sick leave into your rate calculations . It ' s up to you to come up with a number that works for you to cover the obligations they would otherwise take on . You might want to run any contract they come up with past a lawyer . If you contract longer term , you may want a lawyer draw up your own contract . . your turnover was $ 60 , 000 or more in the last 12 months or will be $ 60 , 000 or more in the next 12 months , or your prices include GST . r e g i s t e r ingregisterwhoregisterwho . html , who needs to register for GST . As an independent contractor , you are exposed to a few things that employees are not the need to collect and pay GST if you earn over the threshold , and ACC levies . ACC levies come out of your in hand . If you have private insurance cover you might be able to avoid some of the levies . Any money you do invoice for GST is not yours , it belongs to the IRD do not spend it . That said , you can claim the GST component of legitimate business expenses against your GST obligations , including on accountancy and ACC . Similarly , expect ACC levies to come out of whatever is left . Talk with ACC to make sure they have you categorised correctly as it affects which levies are applied . If you ' re in a highrisk trade then your levies will be higher and vice versa . You might find the ACC levy comes to a couple percent of your annual income budget accordingly . Likewise , you can also claim business expenses against your income tax obligations essentially you get to claim your income is lower by the expenses , and pay tax on that amount . Those expenses are subject to depreciation rates different rates are applied to different categories of expenses , and IIRC , if it ' s 500 then you can potentially claim it all in one hit undepreciated . Accountant ' s help .