What do I do if employer does not give me my 1099?

Question

I worked for a person as an independent contractor. I have not yet received my 1099. I have asked about it and he keeps procrastinating. I need to know exactly how much taxes I need to pay, but what do I do when he refuses to give me the form? I know that other people who work for him are not concerned about getting their 1099s because that way there is no proof that they made any money so in their minds they don't owe taxes, but I am not going to break the law (over a relatively small amount of money). Is there any way to get my employer in trouble with the IRS or anything for failing to give me a 1099 when I have earned more than enough money to be entitled to?? Thank you.

He certainly was more like an employer (he is a solo practitioner attorney and I was a law student working for him), but since his office is less than 5 people, he pays everyone as independent contractors to save himself from the difficulty of dealing with witholding. Also, since law students do tend to be workers of limited duration, it is not a big deal.

The problem is that he frequently paid cash because his bookkeeper was on maternity leave when I worked there this year. I did make photocopies of all of my timecards, and wrote in how much I earned, but I just feel that it is wrong for him not to give me a 1099, given that he is an attorney (ethics much?) and that he is certainly able to write off every dime he pays me from his own income!!

Answer 1

If you made less than $600 in non employee wages they are not required to fill out a 1099 MISC.

You can contact the IRS to report the company for not providing the tax documents in a timely manner.

Answer 2

You have hit on one of the reasons I feel that laboratory rats should be replaced by lawyers; there is in endless supply of them and nobody really ever gets attached to one. As to your 1099 problem; you really don't need one. If you kept a record of how much you were paid then that is the total you can use to compute your taxes. You should file a report with your state's employment division so their wage & hour division can take a close look at this guy's records. If they determine that he was treating employees as self-employed sub-contractors then they can go back as far as they want and collect employment taxes and fines and interest from him. Who knows; they may even be able to pay some of the people who were mistreated some back wages to correct past wrongs committed.

Answer 3

Watch your phrasing on this. To start with, that person is not your employer, he's your client/customer. You can contact your local IRS office and turn the guy in, because he clearly has no intention of doing any 1099s. However, don't expect to ever work for him again.

That said, you should be able to reconstruct the amount he paid you through your bank deposits. If you're running a business, you should have some sort of cash receipts journal that would tell you from whom and how much you received. You don't need a 1099 to report income on your tax return (although it sure makes it easier). No matter what a 1099-MISC says, you're still obligated to report what you received, so make sure that whatever your gross income is, make sure it equals the amounts of cash deposited into your business checking account.

Answer 4

Hi, the same thing happened to us. We have an electrical business and one of our builders did not send us a 1099. Well I had a record of what he had paid us in 2005, so I just wrote that amount down with his name and address and gave it to our accountant. She said she would take care of it. That way, I am reporting it like I should, and if he doesn't report it on his side, then it will be his problem. Good Luck!

Oh yeah, and ditto the one guys response about you not getting a 1099 if you made under $600 last year.

Answer 5

I didn't get my W-2 by January 31, so I asked my employer for it, but I still don't have it. What should I do?

If you don't receive your Form W-2 (PDF) by February 15, contact the IRS for assistance at [phone]. Also, you may want to refer to Tax Topic 154, Form W-2 - What To Do if Not Received, to see the specific information the IRS will need in order to prepare a Form 4598, Form W-2, 1098 or 1099 Nor Received, Incorrect, or Lost. You will be sent a copy of Form 4598 along with a Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099R, Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contract, etc.


References:

Form 4852 (PDF), Substitute For Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099R, Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.
Tax Topic 154, Form W-2 - What To Do if Not Received

Answer 6

File your return using your financial records. They should very closely match what would be on a 1099 anyway.

Answer 7

That person obviously is avoiding you because he/she has no intention of reporting his/her income from those transactions!
Report the individual(s) to the IRS!!!!!! That way you're covered and the IRS will explain to you how to proceed with your return!
The IRS will then deal with the TAX EVADER!!!
The law says we have to "REPORT"! As long as you meet that criteria you should be safe from retribution!

Answer 8

your employer is well past the date that he is REQUIRED to provide you with your 1099. You can take your last pay stub and calculate what you earned and then report it as income on your form. At least that way, you have made the effort and it will be him, not you, that goes to jail.