It definitely sounds like a terrible client, especially making you jump through these hoops just to work with them. Sometimes it's hard to know until you've sta

It definitely sounds like a terrible client, especially making you jump through these hoops just to work with them. Sometimes it's hard to know until you've started working with them how the relationship will turn out. A client forcing you to form an S-corp and put yourself on payroll doesn't exactly establish trust and is probably a bad sign of things to come. Despite this, I wouldn't let it sour your view of self-employed work. I was an independent contractor for 6 years and then started a more formal business after. The freedom of picking where, when and how you work, who you work with, how much you'll charge, and most rewarding of all, building and owning your own thing, can be very fulfilling. Maybe you had other reasons to desire employment again, this is certainly not for everyone, but if it's all interesting to you, it's worth it just for the personal growth.