[gregjor]

If your customers supply the equipment and dictate the hours and so on you get close to the IRS classification of employee. You (or your customer) can't just call the relationship freelance or contract, it has to meet some requirements that show an independent relationship.

I have freelanced for over a decade and never had a customer tell me I had to use their hardware. I don't doubt it happens -- I know f/t employees working remote who have to lug around a "work" laptop -- but I would just say no to a contract like that unless it had a lot of ofsetting benefits.

The policy may come from the IT security people rather than a policy enforced by the client company. I have had to jump through hoops with large company IT departments just to get access to their network.