# being paid less than advertised for job **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499 "2015-11-03T05:34:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/21 "2015-11-11T00:36:05Z")
That still doesn’t answer whether the proper tax withholdings are happening. Get documentation NOW as to what’s whithheld so far. You’re going to be one sorry SOB when the IRS (or whatever agency applies to you) gets a whiff of this, if you’re not setting aside your taxes in a separate account and should have been. Could be as soon as April, could be in five years. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/22 "2015-11-11T01:09:14Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > After talking with him about it, it appears that I’m a co-owner rather than statutory employee and I was paid the correct amount. 🙂 My prior calculation was done late at night when I was tired and I used the wrong month for comparison, which I noticed later after posting this thread. I vaguely remember being told I’d be a statutory employee earlier in the year when hired. 😕 The job is advertised as being a co-owner. Co-owner??? I assume you have a contract, right? Reviewed by a lawyer? Did you invest in this company? Do you get part of the profit, assuming there is any? What is your liability if this guy is crooked? What is your liability if the guy loses money? Or gets fined? You may think you assuaged our concerns, but you’ve just doubled mine. Get a lawyer, fast. I don’t want to hear about you posting from jail or the poorhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/23 "2015-11-11T01:33:59Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Co-owner??? I assume you have a contract, right? Reviewed by a lawyer? Did you invest in this company? Do you get part of the profit, assuming there is any? > > What is your liability if this guy is crooked? What is your liability if the guy loses money? Or gets fined? You may think you assuaged our concerns, but you’ve just doubled mine. > > Get a lawyer, fast. I don’t want to hear about you posting from jail or the poorhouse. Yeah, to be blunt, this is _more_ fucked up, not less. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/24 "2015-11-11T02:31:18Z")
Hmm. I was placed in this job by the state vocational rehab, so I guess they’d have some explaining if there’s something illegal about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/25 "2015-11-11T03:23:56Z")
Co-owner? Do you have a contract? What does “co-owner” mean? Next month will he send you a bill and no money? This all sounds very strange… ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/26 "2015-11-11T12:52:05Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Hmm. I was placed in this job by the state vocational rehab, so I guess they’d have some explaining if there’s something illegal about it. Or they’re being lied to. Too. Go to your caseworker at the rehab agency and describe the situation. I suspect that it’s going to ring alarm bells with them. Maybe they think it’s a statutory employee. There is no way you are legally a co-owner of this guy’s business. That’s just not on. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/27 "2015-11-11T13:40:42Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Co-owner??? I assume you have a contract, right? Reviewed by a lawyer? Did you invest in this company? Do you get part of the profit, assuming there is any? > > What is your liability if this guy is crooked? What is your liability if the guy loses money? Or gets fined? You may think you assuaged our concerns, but you’ve just doubled mine. > > Get a lawyer, fast. I don’t want to hear about you posting from jail or the poorhouse. This + about 86. You are a co-owner, but you didn’t know it, and you are being paid in cash and you aren’t sure if taxes are being withheld. What kind of business is this, if you don’t mind my asking? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bonaventure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Bonaventure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonaventure)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/28 "2015-11-11T14:35:32Z")
Honestly, it sounds like a scam company engineered to take advantage of disabled workers with few options and who aren’t savvy about things like tax withholding. If you are getting paid in cash and do not receive an accounting of taxes withheld, I can pretty much guarantee that no tax is being paid to the government. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/29 "2015-11-11T15:10:44Z")
I’d still like to know about the “money I owe” bit. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/30 "2015-11-11T17:30:29Z")
> [@Bonaventure](#): > > Honestly, it sounds like a scam company engineered to take advantage of disabled workers with few options and who aren’t savvy about things like tax withholding. > > If you are getting paid in cash and do not receive an accounting of taxes withheld, I can pretty much guarantee that no tax is being paid to the government. If you’re a “co-owner” (and as others say, what the hell does THAT mean?) then you are probably considered self-employed - which means you are entirely responsible for taxes including the employer’s share of Social Security. Others here know more about the ramifications of that kind of thing regarding stuff like health insurance and business expenses. You definitely need to explore all that further, including what you’re getting paid and whether any deductions are happening. Keep very, very food records of everything you’re paid - and any expenses related to it. For example if you’re using your computer to do the work, some of the computer’s value may be able to be expensed as a necessary business expense. Assuming no tax is being withheld, you will need to make quarterly payments to the IRS to cover all your taxes: income (federal and state), social security, medicare. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499/31 "2015-11-11T19:59:32Z")
This reminds me of all those people back in the 90s who sold Amway but would always phrase it as “I own my own business”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-paid-less-than-advertised-for-job/736499.md?page=1)