I have a signed I-9, W-4, company email address, PTO through Gusto payroll, and have received W-2s every year. By every legal definition I am an employee. However my employer has been splitting my pay — running part of it through Gusto as W-2 income and paying the rest via direct bank transfer, then issuing a 1099-NEC for the direct payments. This has been going on for about 4 years.
When I asked him about it he admitted over text that the 1099 was based on how he deposited the money, not my actual classification. He also said “you requested to not have taxes taken out so that makes you a subcontractor.” I never signed any contractor agreement.
I have text messages showing him directing my daily work, assigning me to client sites, and approving my time off. I have a company email. I have all my Gusto documents. I have a blank 1099-NEC with no dollar amount filled in. The forms were also sent to me in mid April, well past the January 31st deadline.
Recently he sent an email unilaterally cutting my pay and changing my availability to on-call only without my agreement.
Making me earn 50$ this week.
He also promised me a bonus in writing for securing a new client and never paid it.
I have not filed taxes in 4 years because I kept receiving incorrect and late forms.
I earn roughly $27k a year. I’m trying to figure what to do.
Also where gusto was not used in the pay, I have not been added my pto, meaning I have like 120 hours not accounted for or used.
Is this legal?
Employer is telling me I’m a contractor now.
byu/itsjenzing intax
Posted by itsjenzing
7 Comments
File for unemployment.
Not a tax question
Call your state department of labor and ask them into this. This probably is bigger than just you.
As shitty as it sounds just because you have received the wrong tax forms from your employer it’s not a valid reason to not file your taxes.
With that said, your boss is certainly misclassifying you.
You can’t be a W2 employee and a contractor at the same time….
Sounds like way too much hassle for 27k a year, that’s less than fast food wages in a lot of places. Report him, file for UE, and look for work.
A 1099 just means you’ll owe 15-25% of this second half in self employment taxes alone
It’s 15-25% that HE doesn’t have to pay
So yeah. It’s a pay cut in and of itself
**Since your employer said you were a contractor you now owe the IRS self-employment tax paid 4 times a year. June 15 is the next payment date.**
Since **you’re misclassified as a 1099 contractor** you should file form [SS-8](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iss8) with the IRS. Take a look at that form online to see you’re misclassified. (Click on form number) **You should get a refund for up to 3 years of overpaid self-employment tax. i**f IRS decides you are an employee **by filing 1040-X for each of the 3 years; use the** [SS-8](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iss8) instructions for filing a special 1040-x file them at same time as [SS-8](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iss8) , **but to different IRS addresses. If you’re not in a union file after you change employers!**