yo WHATS UP FELLAS! OK SO ITS LIKE THIS: i signed up for foodstamps and EBT wanted 80 hours of work in trade for their foodstamp assistance. cool not a problem, that’s 20 hours a week. i can swing that. Except before i ever signed up for it, i got a job. not a fulltime job but still its money. and thats what i need right? so i called ebt and said hey man i cant do your 20 hours a week of community service, i got a job! the EBT guy says, ok ill send you a form, return it before the deadline. (6 days from when i got the letter) Well here’s the problem ive run into: the guy i work for pays me in cash. Its a small lawn service. He doesn’t do taxes at all. deals in strictly cash i think.I asked him to fill out an employment verification form for my EBT account and he flat out said hell no. he doesnt want anything to do with that. says he doesnt have to do shit. hes that kind of guy.
If he doesnt sign this paper work then my benefits are cancelled. i want to call ebt and try to explain whats going on but im worried they will press for his info (which is already on record because i went online and updated my information about employemnt) and try to take some sort of legal action against him or contact the irs, idk, which would immediately cause this guy to tell me to take a hike. seems i have only a few options right? i can quit my job and get a worse paying one to keep my benefits/ i can fill out all my info and then sign his name (yeah i just said that) or i can just tell EBT everything they want to know about this guy, a.k.a. snitch, and then get my ass kicked and fired. any ideas here would be helpful, thanks.
You come FIRST in this situation. Do what is legally right for yourself, even if it means getting your employer into trouble.
That will keep YOU out of legal/criminal trouble!
If you were to go to jail because of fraud or because you lied for your employer, is he going to be there to bail you out?
Do what is best for yourself!
Moderator Action
Since this involves legal issues, let’s move this to IMHO.
Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.
Your new boss is breaking quite a few laws here … tax evasion … failure to maintain Worker’s Compensation insurance … that’s just for starters.
You can try and blackmail your boss, “Sign here or I’m contacting the District Attorney’s office” … or just contact the DA’s office … Me_Billy is right on the money, protect yourself first.
I understand a shortage of work, but lawn service is dangerous … if an accident happens, you’ll have to pay the hospital bills yourself, your new boss will “fly by night” never to be seen again. IMEIO, it’s not worth the risk … do your community a favor and report this guy.
Tell EBT and the government everything about this guy, or it will come back to haunt you.
Yeah, I would avoid dealing with this guy. Not only is he breaking several laws, he is putting you in a position where you are as well. The IRS can come after you for all your untaxed “under the table” wages. You won’t go to jail, probably, but you may pay some hefty penalties.
Likely, when the IRS catches up with him, he will be going to jail, or at the least, be out of business, then you would be out of a job anyway. If you were to be injured, you would have no worker’s comp coverage, so you would either be denied treatment for non-emergencies, and be left on the hook for any emergency treatment you do receive. You are not paying into unemployment of social security, either, so you lose eligibility for those benefits.
And that is not even counting that he is currently screwing up your EBT benefits. I would be surprised if he is not violating others of your labor rights as well.
He is also harming your community. He is not paying taxes, so the rest of us have to pay more, his competitors are at a disadvantage if they are following the law, any emergency treatment for injuries will come out of the hospitals budget, and ultimately paid for by tax payers and people with insurance. In no way is what he is doing “Okay”.
You are not responsible for “telling” on him, but you should definitely distance yourself, before he finds a way to throw you under the bus.
I’m not even even close to being a lawyer, but perhaps you can apply to food stamps as a independent contractor or business, you would file your cash earnings as business income or something like that, and pay taxes on it. Social services would want to see your tax return and give you a bunch more paperwork to fill out. In addition to paying taxes on your cash income, your tax filing will get a lot more complex, and you will have to pay double on some taxes, perhaps needing to hire an accountant to sort out things. Not sure if that’s worth the food stamp benefit.
This is a super-exciting first post, bro! I vote you take an axe and start chopping the guy up. Lop off his left hand first, and see if he signs. Then his right foot, then his left foot and so on, just leaving his right hand alone so he can still sign. Peace out!
I would shine the lawn care, do the 20 hours for the EBT and look for a “real” job for “real pay” when not working for EBT. Something will come up, and at least this way you can eat. You might also make some real good connections during this 20 hour a week thing.
Then, if you HAD to earn a little cash, work for Mr. Fly-By-Night as a once-in-a-while last resort.
Please don’t threadshit.
Perhaps my experience may be of help here. I was doing odd jobs and working as an independent contractor for awhile while on EBT. I will caution that the program does vary somewhat between different states, but much, if not all, of the following should apply.
The IRS is concerned that YOU are honest on YOUR taxes. They have zero problem with you declaring income you earned as strictly cash so long as you pay applicable taxes on the amount.
One of my employers during that lean time was ****ing up her own taxes and not paying them. Yes, she (eventually) got caught. The IRS didn’t “come after” me or care about my working for this ninny because I actually paid all my taxes. Indeed one of the things that tipped them off was the discrepancy between what her employees reported and what she reported.
So… be honest. In the long run it pays off, even if no one likes writing checks to the IRS to pay their taxes.
Two cautions: First, if you do not have taxes withheld because you’re essentially working as an independent contractor you will have to pay something called “self employment tax” (probably the most honest form name in government). It’s a Schedule SE (Form 1040). Why do you have to do that? Well, you see, 1/2 of your social security tax is paid by you, the employee. The other half is paid by your employer. When you’re self-employed you are both of those people, so you pay both halves.
Second caution: if most of your income, or total amount of cash income is of a sufficient amount, you will be asked to pay quarterly taxes. It’s a pain in the butt, but no worse than any other bill payment you have.
These are two more reasons for being honest. Well, if you’re considered self-employed you are not eligible for unemployment benefits, but the point is that being honest does have benefits for you.
^ This. Protect yourself, first and foremost.
I’m not going to tell you to either keep or lose this lawncare job, but the points other people have brought up about liability, possible injury to yourself, and so forth are very true. I understand needing money, but you need to protect your healthy and bodily integrity, too.
^ This.
As mentioned, I worked as an independent contractor/freelancer/odd jobber for a few years to make ends meet, during which time I also collected EBT.
Contact the social service agency about your situation - you have a job, but the guy is shady. This will not be the first time the public aid people have seen this. Ask them how they want you to prove a cash-only income. If you can get Mr. Shady Businessman to pay you via check that would certainly constitute proof of income.
In my case, I tracked all - and I do mean all - forms of income on a monthly spreadsheet. Even had entries like “money from turning aluminum cans in for cash at scrappers”. Everything. Every six months public aid wanted to see my spreadsheets and all other financial information, which constituted my proof of income.
Two additional advantages: first, it made doing my taxes much easier when that came up (remember - I was paying quarterly for awhile). Second, when at one point I had to sue a former employer for not paying me my wages my records held up in court and I won my case against her. I hope you don’t wind up in court, ever, but if you do having good records will definitely help you.
You may or may not want to pay for assistance in doing your taxes. I went to a CPA and in my particular case I found it worth every penny of his fee. Your mileage may vary. Some places have tax advice at low or no cost for low income people, the public aid people may know of someone. In my area the county library is used as an outreach point for that sort of thing.
I think it’s the 1099 form . It’s for self reporting your earning’s to the IRS This keeps you out of trouble with the IRS , should satisfy the EBT people and you keep the job with no ass kicking.
The 1099 form is not filled out by the person doing the work, it’s filled out by the person who hired the worker. (Technically, “independent contractor”, you don’t use 1099 for a regular employee).
If the Lawn Service Guy isn’t willing to do anything other than pay cash under the table, and won’t sign a form acknowledging he has employed the OP he sure as hell won’t bother with a 1099.
The form for the person doing the work/receiving the money is, as I stated, the Schedule SE on the Form 1040. You only fill that out once a year, though.
The OP really does need to contact his local public aid office and ask them what sort of documentation they’ll accept for being self-employed.
It’s actually Schedule C.
Schedule SE is used to summarize all of the income reported in all of your Schedule C forms and elsewhere that is subject to self-employment (Social Security and Medicare) taxes and to calculate the amount of the tax.
But don’t take my word for it. Look at Schedule SE and read lines 1, 2, and 3.
^ And that is why I use a professional for preparing my taxes - I’ll be the first to admit I’m not particularly good with the process on my own, even if I do review everything prior to giving my final approval.
When I was working for cash painting with my ex all we had to do was fill out a time sheet and earnings report. My case worker provided the form. They were not interested in tax forms. That was about eight years ago in TN so YMMV.