What is the exam-ready answer?
| Official syllabus topic | Employee Versus Independent Contractor Status |
|---|---|
| Official PSI area | Practice of Real Estate |
| Published area weight | 12% of the 100-question national portion |
| Exam portion | National salesperson portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes the weight for the complete content area, not a fixed question count for this lesson. Learn the rule well enough to apply it when PSI changes names, numbers, or parties in a new scenario.
The lesson
These ideas work together. On the exam, the wrong answers usually describe a nearby concept, so learn where each one stops.
Control factors
Instructions, training, scheduling, tools, unreimbursed expenses, opportunity for profit or loss, benefits, permanence, and whether services are central to the business can inform classification under the applicable test.
Written agreement
A written independent-contractor agreement documents intent and responsibilities but cannot override the real facts or a mandatory legal test.
Statutory nonemployee tax rule
Qualifying licensed real estate agents can be treated as statutory nonemployees for federal tax purposes when compensation is substantially sales-based and services are performed under a written contract stating they are not employees for federal tax purposes.
Broker supervision
State real estate law can require broker control over licensed activity even when the affiliated licensee is an independent contractor for tax purposes.
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A salesperson is paid only by commissions under a tax independent-contractor agreement and claims the broker cannot review advertising.
Reason it through. Tax treatment and licensing supervision answer different questions. Georgia brokerage activity remains supervised.
Answer. The broker can and must exercise the supervision required by Georgia real estate law.
Common exam traps
- Letting the contract label decide everything
- Equating tax status with no supervision
- Using one legal test for every statute
- Ignoring actual work practices
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These questions were written for instruction and mapped to the current outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1A brokerage has every agent sign an independent contractor agreement, but it sets their hours, requires daily office attendance and assigns their leads. For a given legal purpose, what decides the agents' status?
- A. The signed agreement, since the parties chose the label
- B. The commission split in the agreement
- C. The actual relationship under that law's test
- D. The type of license each agent holds
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. The actual relationship under that law's test
A written agreement documents intent but cannot override the real facts or a mandatory legal test. The signed label is wrong because a firm that controls hours and work methods may fail the very test the agreement claims to meet.
Question 2A licensed agent's pay is substantially based on sales. Which other condition lets the agent be a statutory nonemployee for federal tax purposes?
- A. A written contract says the agent is not a tax employee
- B. The agent works mostly from a home office
- C. The agent pays all marketing costs personally
- D. The broker does not review the agent's ads
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. A written contract says the agent is not a tax employee
Qualifying real estate agents are statutory nonemployees when pay is substantially sales-based and the services are performed under a written contract stating they will not be treated as employees for federal tax purposes. The advertising option is the trap: Georgia license law requires broker supervision whatever the tax status, so dropping it could never be a condition.
Question 3A Georgia salesperson treated as an independent contractor for tax purposes wants to run social media ads without the broker's review. Which statement is correct?
- A. Contractor status frees the salesperson from broker review
- B. Only print ads need the broker's review
- C. Broker review applies only to employee agents
- D. Broker supervision still applies under license law
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. Broker supervision still applies under license law
Georgia affiliated licensees remain under broker supervision and Commission rules whatever their federal tax classification. The common mistake is carrying the independent contractor label from tax law into license law, where it does not decide anything.
Ready to move on?
You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.
- Explain Employee Versus Independent Contractor Status in one clear answer without notes.
- Separate Control factors from Written agreement using a fresh example.
- Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
- State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
- Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
- Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Antitrust: Price Fixing, Market Allocation, Boycotts, and Tie-Ins. After sorting out how a firm classifies its own agents, Antitrust: Price Fixing, Market Allocation, Boycotts, and Tie-Ins covers how firms must deal with competitors, with each brokerage setting its own commissions and territories independently.
Return to the Practice of Real Estate hub to see every official branch and the complete lesson sequence for this content area.