asiel...[at]aol.com wrote:

- quote -

I am not a tax specialist, but I have 26+ years experience
with DOL.

You are an employee. Tell me, did you ever get paid? If so
did you receive a sum less than your hourly rate x hours
worked such that you could reasonably assume that SS and
income taxes were deducted? If so the presumption will
likely be that they were deducted from your pay and not
remitted to Uncle Sam. If not then you will owe income
taxes and your half of SS taxes.

Start making a list of the paychecks you did receive, try to
find any stubs that were attached. Reconstruct your
financials with this guy even if you were paid cash.


<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

asiel...[at]aol.com wrote:

- quote -

This is common in Arizona. You are now responsible for
federal tax, social security, and medicare. Write off as
much as you can that came out of your pocket then your
taxible income is figured on self-employment tax form
Schedule SE. GOODLUCK!!!!

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

asiel...[at]aol.com wrote:

- quote -

Contact your state's Wage & Hour department. They can get
you your back pay and potentially help establish that you
were an employee.

For the hours you did work related to hit child and mother,
you were by definition a household employee. That pay goes
on Line 7 with the notation "HH," which means you were a
household employee who didn't get a W-2. (Although Wage &
Hour may be able to get you a W-2 for that, too.)

Phoebe

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

asiel...[at]aol.com wrote:

- quote -

Question. Since you didnt' fill out a W4 or W9, does he
have your social security number? If not, do not provide
it to him until and unless you are sure he will do right by
you and file W2 forms. Yes, you were an employee and that's
for sure.

When you file your tax return, absent any W2 OR 1099 from
him, use a form 45... uh... whatever it is called Substitute
W2 form. I just bet you did remember to write down his FEI #
so that should help in filling out that form number 47..
uh... whatever. 4752?

Forget about the three weeks pay. You'll no see a penny of
it.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

asiel...[at]aol.com wrote:

- quote -

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by recourse. If your
talking legally, maybe you should post in the legal forum.
As far as Accounting and taxes go, your poor judgement has
left you in a situation where your holding the bag. Sorry.
As far as taxes go if you receive a 1099 you would claim it
on Sch C Profit and Loss from a business. You will be
responsible for Self Employment taxes on the profit. 7.65%.
It sounds as if you have racked some up expenses working for
this guy(which you can deduct against the profit), but it
also sounds like a lot of stuff you did was out of
freindship, so you may/maynot get those deductions. Whatever
the scenario is, chalk it up to a learning experience and
unfortunately it looks as if you may need a good accountant
now.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<asielb40[at]aol.com> wrote:

- quote -

It seems to me you were an employee. Furthermore, only part
of your salary should be deductible by him, since some of
what you did was personal rather than business.

- quote -

Ask the IRS.

- quote -

It looks like he's trying to avoid you talking to the IRS.

Seth

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<OP (and others) worked full time for "friend" with no
income tax withheld from pay; "friend" wants to treat these
employees as independent contractors and give them 1099s
rather than treat them as full-time employees
You ask what your tax obligations might be. Regardless of
how this plays out, you declare the income regardless of how
it is reported on whatever flavor of 1040 you use, and you
are liable for federal, state, and local income taxes on
that income.

If you are an independent contractor, you're also going to
owe some additional taxes related to self-employment.

You say to are going to have to sue the "friend" for salary
owed. That won't affect your tax situtation, other than that
you might be able to deduct the costs of the lawsuit (in
general, you can deduct legal expenses related to the
generation or collection of income). The contractor vs
employee issue is something that you might bring to the
attention of your state labor commission. It sounds to me
like the IRS would rule that you are an employee, not an
independent contractor, and your "friend" would be held
liable for your employment taxes.

A possibly helpful link:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...155756,00.html

--
John D. Goulden

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

All of the complications aside (for now), it sounds like the
first step is to determine the nature of your employment
according to the IRS. By their standards a common-law
employee does not control how or what will be done at the
job. An independent contractor has those freedoms.

If the employer is aware of a needed end result, he will
recruit the services of someone to complete that task and
achieve that desired result. You are a common-law employee
if you are required to follow the employer's guidelines or
"methods" to achieve that goal. If you are given the end
goal but allowed to use your own methods or systems to reach
that goal you can be considered an independent contractor.
It is somewhat of a vague area by IRS standards.

From the sound of it, had your job been limited to handling
his pending audit by any means you saw fit, you could have
been an IC (you were basically an outside consultant). This
is especially true if you employment was understood to end
when the job/audit was complete (which doesn't sound like
the case). If your employment was to continue you may have
been more of an "office manager", which is not usually an
IC. Your assistant-like role in dealing with the family also
lends itself to common-law employment.

Because we do not know every detail of the situation, you
should read the sites below. They outline the basic rules
for being IC or employee.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...=99921,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc762.html

Good luck.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<asielb40[at]aol.com> wrote:

- quote -

"There is no honor among thieves" still applies.

- quote -

I'm going to stop here and suggest you need an accountant or
enrolled agent of your own, maybe even a lawyer. You
handled payroll? You didn't see anything wrong? You could
be exposed to a lot more than your own tax liability if you
were the one who should have been seeing to the withholding
and payment of taxes.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

You worked for him, at his place of business, on a schedule
he determined, at his direction, and under his control. You
are therefore almost certainly (99% sure) an employee and
not an independent contractor.

As such, he is required to withhold income tax and the
employee's share of payroll taxes, and also required to pay
the employer's share of the payroll taxes. Without a W-4 or
W-9, he is required to withhold from each payment he makes
to you at the highest applicable rate (without checking in
the books, probably about 28%, but I'm sure that someone
else will correct me on that one if I'm wrong).

Since he's already in audit, he'll get caught on this one
real quick, and it may very well screw up any ability he
might have to get an offer in compromise or a settlement of
his unpaid tax liabilities.

As far as your obligations are, you should fill out a
substitute W-2 (get from the IRS website, www.irs.gov) and
report your income as best as you can reconstruct from your
records (and his, if you can still get access to them, or if
you get them in discovery once you sue his sorry ass). You
will then have to pay the unpaid amounts of income tax and
the employee's portion of the payroll taxes that were not
withheld. There may be a penalty on this, but you should
discuss the matter with the IRS (start with the Taxpayer
Advocate's Office) immediately to see if you can get the
penalties waived or abated. Doing so also lets you
indirectly make sure that the IRS is aware of the fact that
your employer has not been satisfying his tax obligations.
The IRS is very harsh on employers who try to phony out of
their employment tax responsibilities.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

I live in IL and have a rather complex question. I went to
work for an acquaintance of mine that runs a law firm
dealing in inter trade law. He has many degrees, but not
very 'smart' if you know what I mean. He has not paid taxes
since 1998 and the IRS caught up with him last year, but he
still has procrastinated until it was down to the wire this
year to start preparing for his audit. That is his headache
not mine, but needed background information. I came in and
got his office straightened out as best I could and have his
2006 info all ready for the accountant to prepare the return
for this year... THEN HE LET ME GO... over an email, with no
notice nonetheless.

He never had me fill out a W 9 or W 4. But he wants to
treat it as an independent contractor. He didn't take out
any taxes from my pay over the 3+ months I worked there. My
position was paid hourly with a bi-weekly pay period. My
duties were administrative assistant/ secretarial. Came in
every weekday at 8 AM most of the time 10 or 11 hrs per day
and some weekends and holidays (Saturdays and Sundays). I
answered all the phones, (we had satellite offices in NC, MI
and TX that had the phone calls go thru our main office most
of the time), reconfigured his messed up filing system,
handled NAFTA requests, handled his traveling affairs of
which he travels very frequently (airline and limo
reservations), handled billing and payroll. Then being this
was an office attached to his home, I also handled his
daughters school and activity issues from getting fees paid
to part time chauffeur, handled his mothers medication
ordering (she has beginners Alzheimer, cancer and goes to
dialysis 3 times a week and lives there) and accompanied her
to all her doctors appts. because her caregiver didn't speak
very good English and couldn't report to the family. I was
also responsible for getting the caregivers and housekeepers
(interviews and hiring) which we had a high turnover rate
due to his way of treating people.

Now with all this in mind... can I be considered an
independent contractor and since I didn't fill out a W 9,
but he plans on filing a 1099 for me... what are my tax
obligations and how should I file. Do I have any recourse?
And I am not the only one there in this predicament. There
are about 6 employees over the year that he is claiming as
independent contractors... only one had the same job as I
did (I replaced her in September 2006)

And to round off the story... looks like I am going to have
to take him to court to get my last 3 weeks of pay. I have
been gone since Jan 14th and he hasn't sent it to me or
returned any correspondence.

Advice for anyone out there... don't work for 'friends'!

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >