Urgent Message from The MSPA - Please Act QUICKLY

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Dear Mystery Shopper:

MSPA has some very important, and quite serious, information for you. There are some very serious legislative threats that could deny you the right to work as an independent contractor and threaten the mystery shopping industry. We urge you to contact your Senators and Members of Congress and implore them to oppose legislation that would undermine the legal recognition of independent-contractor status. We ask that you contact your Senators and your Congressional Representatives in three ways:

1. Call their Washington or home district offices.
   
2. Send them an email or submit a web-form message to them
   
3. Write and mail a letter to them (and copy us at the address on the bottom of this message or send a copy by fax or email)

The following are suggested points you should make in your communications:

• I am an independent contractor (I do mystery shopping on contract with companies) and I strongly urge you to oppose any proposals that would threaten my right to work as an independent contractor.
• New laws that increase the risks to companies that do business with independent contractors put legitimate self-employed service providers – like me – out of business, because our clients will be afraid to do business with us.
• Many companies that are clients of Independent Contractors qualify for Section 530 protection and need the certainty that Section 530 provides in order to continue doing business with independent contractors – like me.
• IRS data indicate that the federal tax compliance rate for independent contractors whose earnings are reported on Forms 1099 is 97%, which is only 2 percentage points lower than the 99% compliance rate for employees--that is, we are, as a group, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens.
• Now is an especially inappropriate time for the government to take any action that will depress economic activity, especially in the entrepreneurial sector.

If you have other "bullet-point" issues you think other MSPA shoppers might find useful in crafting their own messages, please send them to us via email to vikki@mysteryshop.org and we will add them to the list.
Thank you for your support in this very important effort.
Contacting Your Senators and Congressional Representatives

Click here for a complete list of Senators and their addresses and other contact information.
Click here for a complete list of Congressional Representatives and their addresses and other contact information.
To find who represents you in Congress (both Senate and House of Representatives), simply go to this link:http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml.
You can find detailed contact information for your Congressional representative at: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.
You can find detailed contact information for your Senators at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Thank You!!