I am in my OPT status. Am I eligible to work as an independent contractor instead of working as an employee to some company?

If you have completed 5 years of F1, you will file resident tax return. You will get 1099-misc instead of W2. You will report your income and work related expenses on schedule C or C-EZ (Form 1040). Then you put net income (or loss) on line 12 of Form 1040. This income is subject to SE tax at 15.3% (this is shown on line 57 of Form 1040). http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/tax-filing-by-self-employed-sole.html

This is really a LEGAL question that is best posted in the Immigration Law portion of the LAW Forum.

It is a technical violation of your visa to work as an independent contractor while on OPT, but it is the EMPLOER's violation, not yours, and the USCIS knows this, so they will NOT hold you responsible. That said, while on OPT, it REALLY does not matter tax-wise too much whether you are working under a Form W-2 or a Form 1099, because you are exempt from FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes while under the F-1 visa, so, subsequently, you will owe NO self-employment taxes when you file as a non-resident, filing Form 1040Nr with a Schedule C.

Now, if and when you become a resident alien under a H-1 or H-1B visa, THEN it is important that you work under a Form W-2 as a true employee, because if you do not, you become liable for ALL of the Social Security and Medicare taxes when you pay the 15.3% self-employment tax.