My employer did not give me a w2 form when requested. She stated that she did not put me on record even though i have proof i worked there. What do i do for my taxes?

[klarrisavilla]

I worked for them for about a month until covid19 which led to me being laid off. I was told i would be getting a check my next payment and she changed it to cash since she said she decided not to put me on record for working there because they closed down due to the virus and that it would be easier on her end

[JotikaT2]

Did you ever complete a W-4 Form (Employee's Withholding Certificate) or employee forms when you were hired?  Or did you provide and sign a W-9 Form (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) when you were hired?

Typically, a W-4 Form is completed when an employee is hired so the employer knows how much to withhold from your wages.  If you completed this form, you would have been treated as an employee and issued a W-2 Form to report your wages.

If, however, you did not complete a W-4 Form but instead, was only asked to complete a W-9 Form, you may have been classified as a contractor instead of an employee.  If you completed this form, you probably received either a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC Form to report your earnings as other income.  In this situation, you would not have had any Medicare or Social Security taxes withheld.  

Based upon your answers to the questions above, and assuming you were never treated as an employee, you would need to report your income as Self-Employed income or as Other income.  Self-employment typically requires you to be working to make a profit, allows you to deduct expenses, but also is subject to self-employment taxes. Other income would imply that you are not in a business and are not intending to make a profit.

Self-employment taxes guide

Please see the following link for more information to help you if you determine you need to enter the activity as a business.

Self-employment income and expense guide

Please comment with more specific questions if you need additional clarification based upon your review of the information above so we can assist you accordingly.

[klarrisavilla]

Thank you but I never received any type of the forms you mentioned. I only ever received a form asking for my social and personal information. I never even got pay stubs. To her knowledge I never worked for her. At this point do I even put that I worked anywhere? I have to get my taxes done on time. Because there’s no real proof only  pictures I have of my schedule when working there. I even filed for unemployment and received all the payments this January meaning I didn’t receive unemployment in 2020 when I filed in may 2020 for being laid off but received everything in 2021 because it was delayed for some reason. I’m just concerned that I will also have to pay that money back even though I did in fact get laid off. I’m also concerned about this situation in general because I didn’t do anything wrong. I worked and got laid off because of covid. It’s been hard since then. Other than that I would have still been working there. So now I don’t have a w2 form or any paper work forms showing I worked there making it look like I lied to unemployment about ever working there and getting laid off. I only have pictures of my scheduled days I worked and her contact info and messages from her. 

[ColeenD3]

You must have bank deposits for the times she paid you. Many times "employees" are paid cash. This is not unusual. You can file a Schedule C and report it as cash. You also have the option of reporting her and saving yourself half of the SE tax. See the bottom after the screenshot.

To set up your business:

1. Open or continue your return.
2. Search for schedule c and click the Jump to link in the search results.
3. Answer Yes to Did you have any self-employment income or expenses?
   • If you've already entered self-employment work and need to enter more, select Add another line of work.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions.

However, the only way around this, is to file a Form 8919. The qualifications and instructions are available in the link below.

Workers who believe they have been improperly classified as independent contractors by an employer can use Form 8919, Uncollected Social Security and Medicare Tax on Wages to figure and report the employee’s share of uncollected Social Security and Medicare taxes due on their compensation. See the full article Misclassified Workers to File New Social Security Tax Form for more information

If you are, indeed, self-employed, you will need to file a Schedule C. Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business is an IRS form filed by sole proprietors and other self-employed taxpayers.

It tallies up the business's income and expenses, and the net income (or loss) flows from Schedule C to Form 1040, Line 12.

TurboTax automatically creates Schedule C (or Schedule C-EZ) when you enter your business information or when you enter what the IRS considers self-employment income, which is often reported on Form 1099-MISC.

[klarrisavilla]

The form 8919 also requires me to do form ss8 and on that form it’s asking for my bosses identification number but I don’t have that info or have no way of getting it because I never received a w2 form since she did not put me on payroll and paid me in cash even though I assumed I would have been on pay roll for working there as a regular employee. So what do you suggest I do instead? 

[ThomasM125]

You can still file the form SS-8 without the employer ID number if it is not available. The IRS can still contact the employer if you provide a current phone number and address for the employer.

[klarrisavilla]

I’m sorry for asking so much. I’m just frustrated this has never happened to me nor did I ever think it was a thing for someone to lie about you working for them. But the only info I have is her phone number but not her husbands. They were both my bosses and I only have the address of the mall where the shop was located inside. Will that be enough information to put on ss8 form?