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Tax & Compliance

International Contractors and Global Payroll

Written by Girija Srinivasan

Curated by Rubric Financial

Last updated

1 / 5

Three Ways to Engage Global Talent

  • You can hire someone as an independent contractor, through an employer of record, or as an employee of your own foreign entity.
  • Contractors are fastest to start but carry misclassification risk if the person works like a full-time employee under local law.
  • An employer of record legally employs the worker on your behalf in their country, handling local payroll, benefits, and compliance.
  • Opening your own entity makes sense once headcount in a country is high enough to justify the setup cost and ongoing filings.

About the author

Girija SrinivasanCA

Partner, Cross-Border Tax & Corporate FP&A

Chartered Accountant with 15+ years in finance leadership, ERP, and cross-border compliance. Leads US-India cross-border tax and corporate FP&A at StartupCFO.

More articles by Girija →

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