Need much help!!! Think we were lied to! Unbelievable!!?

My husband started a new trucking job in October. All they told him was that you pay your own taxes, they do not take taxes out of your pay. He recently quit that job. He did not get his last check and when he asked for it, the boss told him he needed my husband to sign a w2 proving that my husband worked for the man. He then said that my husband was hired as an independent contractor and had ot pay taxes on everything as if it were his own truck. He said my husband should have receipts for everything! He just told him that a couple days ago! We had no idea right from the start that this job was like that. What if my husband does not fill out that w2 and the ex boss has no proof that m husband worked there? Should we do that? There is no way we can pay for things on a truck that we never owned in the first place. As far as we knew, he was hired as a company driver. Who hires an Owner/Operator without a truck? What do we do? We have no money since he hasnt worked 4 a month
Additional Details
Was lied to because when he was hired he as never told he was hired as an independent cont. and so far no 1099 has came in the mail.

First you start the question by saying that you were lied to...then you say that he was told that he would have to pay his own taxes, they do not take taxes out of your pay. What in the world did you think that meant? I don't see how you were lied to.

Next, nobody signs a W2. A W2 is issued by the company to an employee showing the income and other information. A 1099-Misc is issued to a contract laborer showing the income and other information. I think what you mean is that the boss asked for a form W9 (that is what a contractor files with the company). A W4 is filed by an employee.

But, with all of that being said let's get to your problem.

It is illegal for the Owner to withhold a paycheck because he didn't do what he should have done at the start. He is legally required to have in his possession a W9 before your husband ever started driving that truck (yes there is a fine for it). He was also required to provide your husband with a 1099 postmarked no later than Jan. 31 2008 (yes there is a fine for that too). Neither fine is huge...but they draw attention.

But, even if he didn't do what he was supposed to do...you are still required to claim the income. Yes, you will have to pay self-employment tax of 15.3% as well as the normal tax rate.

However, the good news is that if your husband was a OTR (Over the Road) driver that had to spend the night away from home he can use the per deim system. This means that he doesn't have to have all of the receipts. All he needs are his log books. He should have a copy of these. I use to drive a truck so I know that you are required to keep a copy. For the days that he was away from home the rate starts at $38 and up (depending on where he was) as an expense.

So, it might not be as bad as you think it is.

Now, to the idea of not signing the W9. I am assuming that the owner wasn't stupid enough to pay your husband in cash. But, let assume that he was...he still has ways to prove it. Your husband would be listed on the insurance for the truck. Other people in the company and the companies that he delivered to know he work there.

So now how to get the last check. It is simply making a deal...if you give me my check and my 1099 I will not turn you in to the IRS. The fines aren't that much maybe $200 (but that is for each occurence). If not then get an Attorney to get the last paycheck and he will have to pay the Attorney fees too. However this can take along time. If you need the money I would try the deal first.

Hope this helps (and hope I didn't miss anything)

If you are an independent contractor, you do not need to sign a "W-2." Nobody signs a W-2. My guess is the contractor needs your husband's SSN, which is a legitimate request. Your husband is required to provide his SSN to the contractor.

Whatever out of pocket expenses your husband had for Oct -Dec can be deducted from the income received from the company. The company will issue a 1099MISC.

Your spouse will file as a self-employed individual using Schedule C.

I can't see that you were lied to. Your husband worked as an independent contractor driving a truck he did not own. This is not unusual in the trucking business.

Find a tax preparer who is knowledgable regarding these types of returns. It will be worth the cost and save you a lot of grief.

He was asked to sign a W-9 form giving his social security number, not a W-2 which is the form employers give employees at the end of the year showing their income and withholdings.

You have a problem here, but the company does too - they were required to have him sign that form before they started paying him. And they probably can't legally pay him that way anyway - he probably met the definition of an employee, not a contractor.

You probably need to file a form SS-8 to ask for a determination of whether he was an employee or a contractor, and go from there. And you do owe tax on the money he made. Did he get a form 1099-misc from the trucking company?

But you are likely to need some professional help getting out of this mess, from a CPA or Enrolled Agent - this is NOT a job to take to H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt or Liberty Tax Service, or someplace like that.

I've seen this before. It's a W-9, not a W-2. Your husband was supposed to have received a W-4. It 's that or the company has to be up front as tell him he is being hired as an independent contractor and has to set money aside for self-employment tax, Federal income taxes and, if applicable, state and local income taxes.

It really is a shame. Unless you made a very low income and have a lot of deductions, you are going to owe a substantial amount of income tax. If your dependent is your child and is under age 17 as of December 31, 2007, you can receive up to a $1000 credit, called the Child Care Credit. It's too late for you to launch a business effective in 2007. If you wanted to do a fiscal year arrangement, the IRS would deny you permission or make you do a calendar year first. So you cannot take those deductions nor the large Section 179 deduction. The only thing you can do is start a traditional IRA by April 15. That you can do to blunt the impact of the awful tax bill. A Roth IRA is not tax deductible.
For 2007, you can ask the IRS to forgive the penalty, but there's no chance. I think I saw one time where they forgave the interest, but it was not much interest. I've never seen the Agency forgive the penalty.
Ask your employer to give you your W-2. If they refuse, ask if they are going to mail a 1099-MISC that has box 7 - non employee income - filled in. That means you have to fill out a Schedule C. Go through your check book, your credit card bills, your total mileage for 2007, the miles you drove while you were on the job visiting those families, the equipment you had to buy, etc. What I am saying is that you need to obtain all the legal deductions you can. Begin saving ALL your receipts and keep a diary of your expenses. If you don't know the mileage you drove, look at the State inspection receipts. The mileage is there and you can interpolate. Think of work related cell phone calls, look at your bills, etc. If you are sent a 1099-MISC with Box 7 filled in, you have to pay what the IRS calls Self-Employment tax. You have to fill out a Schedule SE-Form 1040 and eFile or mail along with the other income tax forms. This is actually social security tax and none of us can get out of that tax either, unless you register as a member of a "religious order", as the IRS calls it. If you live in one of the 43 States that have income tax, you have to pay State income tax, also. I know all this because I had clients in this very same situation. Don't give up. Get something to hold your receipts: a shoebox or anything to start. As the years go by, you will become better and better organized.

Complete an IRS Form SS-8 to get an official ruling on your status. This will help you get unemployment if you get fired. When you file your income tax return, you can attach Form 8919 Uncollected Social Security and Medicare Tax on Wages and only pay the employee's half of social security. You will still have to cough up all the income tax. IRS and the states are stepping up enforcement as there is severe abuse. These people are trying to get out of paying Workers Compensation premiums and their portion of the FICA tax. Social Security payroll taxes are collected under authority of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). The payroll taxes are sometimes even called "FICA taxes."
An employer has to insure employees against on the job injury by means of workers Compensation insurance in every single state if he has more than two employees in most States. The IRS is aware of this severe and growing problem and began cracking down on it hard about 4 years ago.

As an independent contractor you should receive a 1099 stating what he earned. Then you would deduct the truck/business expenses (that you are supposed to keep receipts for, but obviously didn't know about). If the boss hasn't sent you a 1099, then you probably aren't on the books and it isn't a legit company. Call a lawyer and find out what you can do. You might also try the better business bureau to see if the company is listed there. Good luck to both of you!

I work a regular job, and I do some work on the side for the company I work for. They do not take taxes out of the side work.... but at the end of the year, they file a 1099, and I get that as part of my tax documents at the end of the year. Your situation sounds VERY shady... sounds as if the guy probably didn't report any income he may have received because of your husband's work, and THAT is illegal. Sounds like he's trying to cover his ***, in case you guys are able to figure out total yearly income and report it... cuz if you do that, then he will get caught. Call a tax attorney.. should be able to get free advice over the phone in cases like this... even the H&R Block guys should know what to do. You are better off trying to pay the IRS for your INCOME, but the truck stuff should be a write off as a work expense!

Call an employment lawyer. If your husband was NOT an employee, he should NOT fill out a w-2 form. w-2s are used only for employees. Even if they told your husband that he was an independent contractor, if the company treated him like an employee a judge can determine that this was, in fact, an employer-employee relationship. Get a lawyer.

I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. I was hired as an independant but I had to still fill out a w2. Here is the link to the IRS regarding Independant Contractors and taxes: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

If you feel you have been mislead, etc contact an attorney which specializes in employment law in your area. Do a google search...

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