If you expect to be paid, or have been paid, for work done, the payor must have your SSN on file. They should have done the W-9 when you were hired, but if they missed it, they can ask any time. If you don't fill out the form, you are subject to a $50 penalty, and the payor will be required to withhold extra backup taxes (if they still owe you any remaining wages.)
what if they never got my SSN? and I was never given forms to fill out?
Your employer paid you but does not have your SSN? Did they take federal, state or FICA taxes out of your paycheck?
she always paid me personal checks, i made less than $599, although i think now she is falsifying information, because i quit doing work for her.
Were you an independent contractor?
Do you have other jobs/other income for the year? Other independent contractor jobs or other W-2 employee jobs?
yes i am a full time firefighter, a W-2 job. it was a friend of mine who started an event company and i did some events for her and was paid, and did not make over $599, and then i quit doing jobs for her and she got mad and is saying i made over $1200, and she has W9 on file for me, that i never filled out.....
Hm.
Well, you may be confused about the documentation. A W-9 form is a "request for taxpayer number." She would have given you this form (ideally) when you started work, so that you would give her your SSN. Then at the end of the year, she knows what your SSN is so she can issue a form 1099-MISC. That's the form that reports your income to the IRS.
If she paid you more than $600 she is supposed to issue a 1099-MISC no later than January 31. If she claims now to have a W-9 that is only a threat that she will send you a 1099-MISC. She might be bluffing. If you can prove she sent a false 1099-MISC, she may be liable for civil and criminal penalties.
Whether she does or does not issue a 1099-MISC, you need to report self-employment income using schedule C. This is found in Turbotax Home & Business (online) or Turbotax Deluxe or higher on the CD/download version. You can report your income from your own accurate records, subtract your expenses, and pay income tax and self-employment tax on the net income.
The important thing is for you to have accurate records of what she paid you that are independent of her documentation. Keeping track in Quickbooks or Quicken or Mint.com would be good, you can also go back through your bank records and get copies of all her checks that you deposited. You would go ahead and file your tax return using your own records of what she paid. If she files a 1099-MISC (she may be bluffing) and if she files it for a false amount, the IRS will send you a CP2000 letter that there is missing income. You would reply by sending the IRS a letter back explaining the situation, that she reported false income, and include your proof of what you were actually paid.