How would you answer?

[DaveO]

In an employment classification audit yesterday the auditor asked the following question;

Is the IC's working relationship with the company?
a. Indefinite
b. Permanent or temporary
c. Short term.

I told her that was one of the most poorly worded questions I'd ever heard. It's like asking Is the man?
a. Fat
b. Obese
c. Corpulent

[AZ-Tax]

I told her that was one of the most poorly worded questions I'd ever heard

My friend from Star City. If you are studying for the EA, get use to poorley worded questions. I have been told time and time again, if more then one answer or all answers are correct, slect the most correct answer.

[DaveO]

I worked on a group that reviewed the questions for the RTRP exam. I told the auditor we would have thrown that question out. I passed the SEE in 1998. I remember the discussion over poorly worded questions that took place after the exam. In some cases the "correct" answer was changed and in others the question was considered so bad all answers received credit. Don't know it this is happening with the RTRP exam or not.

[Gary2]

In an employment classification audit yesterday the auditor asked the following question;

Is the IC's working relationship with the company?
a. Indefinite
b. Permanent or temporary
c. Short term.

While permanent and temporary shouldn't be grouped together, I don't see a problem with the question in general. Short term means a definite end date, less than a year. Indefinite means an unknown end date, but with expectations that it will end, such as whenever a particular project ends. Permanent means that it will continue beyond the current task list or project. There may be cases where the distinction between indefinite and permanent is a grey area. I'm not quite sure what to make of temporary, unless it's intended to mean with a definite end date or ending event, but not necessarily less than a year.

Saying that it's poorly worded strikes me as unwisely personal in an audit situation. Why not just ask the auditor to explain the distinctions?

[taxea]

I agree with Gary 2 and would ask the auditor to define each.