For what it's worth, last time I was doing independent contractor work, I used a billing firm, MBO Partners. They took 4% of my gross and treated me as a W2 employee. My taxes would come out of the gross, as would any benefits I elected. The rest would get direct deposited like a normal paycheck. I would have spent more than 4% of my time screwing around with paperwork, so I thought it a pretty good deal. I suspect there are other firms like this, but I liked 'em enough that I used them for 8 years or so without ever looking for alternatives.