Chattanooga disability attorney advises self-employed Social Security claimants

As a knowledgeable and experienced Chattanooga disability attorney, my job is to help Social Security applicants get their benefits. Self-employed claimants face special challenges in obtaining their Chattanooga Social Security disability benefits.

When I have a client who is self-employed, I must assess a range of issues. These issues include the kind of work that the client performs for his or her business, the revenues that the client receives, and the actual value of the client’s work.

Preliminary issue

The first consideration is whether you are performing “substantial gainful activity” (SGA). Under the Social Security system’s five-step Sequential Evaluation Process, a person who is working at or above the SGA level will not qualify for disability benefits, regardless of how severe that person’s impairment might be.

When a person is not self-employed, but works for somebody else, it is fairly easy to determine whether the person is engaging in substantial gainful activity. Typically, the Social Security Administration will just compare the person’s countable earnings from work with the SGA earnings guidelines.

A self-employed Georgia or Tennessee disability claimant is treated with skepticism

But if you work for yourself – if you run your own business – then your case will receive more scrutiny. Social Security is quite suspicious of self-employed claimants. It won’t matter if you are earning very little, or even losing money, running your own business. For the typical self-employed claimant, the key factors are the types of work activities that the claimant performs, and how much such activities are worth to the claimant’s business.

Business cycles and market conditions can ebb and flow. In one year, you might invest more time and money into building up your own business but not realize much in earnings. But in another year, you might realize considerable earnings and invest little in developing your business. Therefore, in making the SGA determination, Social Security will not rely on self-employment income alone. What counts in determining whether you earn less than the SGA level are the services and activities you render to your own business, and the value of those services and activities to the business. Consequently, a key issue in your claim for Chattanooga disability benefits will be the economic value of your self-employment labors and activities.

How to determine if a self-employed Chattanooga disability applicant is engaging in substantial gainful activity

If you are a self-employed Northern Georgia, Southeastern Tennessee, or Chattanooga disability applicant, the Social Security Administration will consider three main issues in evaluating whether you are engaging in SGA.

First, if you render significant service to your business and your business generates substantial income, then you are engaging in SGA and therefore you cannot receive disability benefits.

Second, even if you do not generate substantial income, you are nonetheless performing SGA if your work activities (with respect to hours, training, productivity, skill and responsibilities) are comparable to the work activities of unimpaired people in your community who earn their living by operating a similar business.

Third, even if you do not generate substantial income, and even if your work activities are not comparable to the work activities of unimpaired people – you are engaging in SGA if your work activity is obviously of greater value than the amount that the SGA Earnings Guidelines establish for the same calendar year. This determination depends on assessing the value of your work activites to your business, or on determining how much an owner would pay to an employee to perform the same activities.

Obtain assistance from a Chattanooga disability attorney

If you are self-employed and live in Chattanooga, Southeastern Tennessee, or Northern Georgia, you may have to overcome several obstacles in order to obtain your Social Security disability benefits. Help from a knowledgeable Chattanooga disability attorney can make all the difference. If you have not already retained another lawyer, and you want me to review your case, then please provide a brief description of your claim using the form on the left. Or you may contact my office.