It takes more than chutzpah and good skills to succeed as an independent contractor. You need solid legal information, especially when taxes are concerned, and a trusty plan for getting everything in writing.

"Working as an Independent Contractor" contains all the basic forms and agreements you need to thrive as an independent contractor. It includes:

• a complete independent contractor agreement, along with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to fill it out
• sample invoices
• a contract amendment form
• two crucial IRS forms no independent contractor should be without

This eFormKit also outlines eight simple steps you can take to dodge being reclassified as an employee by the IRS and other hard-hitting government agencies.

• Independent Contractor Agreement
• Contract Amendment Form
• Invoice Form

Operating system: Windows- and Macintosh-compatible. The computer you use to purchase an eFormKit must be the same computer you will download it to. (For example, don't purchase the eFormKit using your computer at work if you intend to download it later on to your home computer; instead, wait until you're on the computer you intend to download the eFormKit to and then make your purchase. After you've downloaded the file, you will be able to "transfer" it to another computer by copying it to external media or by email.) In addition, you will not be able to download this file if:

• cookies are disabled on your computer, or
• a firewall prevents you from downloading files from the Internet.

Software: Before you can use an eFormKit, additional software must be installed:
To expand the ZIP archive you download after making your purchase, you'll need:

• A decompression utility such as the following, both of which can be downloaded for free:

• 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org) (for Windows users).
• StuffIt Expander (http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/stuffit/expander.html) (for Macintosh). Please note: Many recently manufactured Macs have a native capability to decompress zip files. See your computer's user manual for verification of this and instructions for access.

To open and print an eFormKit, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or greater, or another program that "reads" PDF (portable document format) files. (Download Adobe Reader for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.)
To open, fill out and print word-processing forms included in an eFormKit, you need a word processor that "reads" RTF (rich text format) files:

• Windows XP & Vista both come with WordPad, an RTF-compatible word processor.
• Macintosh OS X comes with TextEdit, an RTF-compatible word processor; non-OS X users need Word 5.0 or greater, WordPerfect 2.1 or greater, or another RTF-compatible word processor.