My employer pays me in cash and claims he pays my taxes - is this legal?

This is definitely concerning. Your employer is required by law to keep accurate records of your hours worked and wages paid. Paying "under the table" or misreporting your earnings to the IRS is illegal, even if they claim they're paying your taxes. What you're describing raises several red flags. First, you should be receiving regular pay stubs showing your gross wages, tax withholdings, and net pay - not just a W-2 at year-end. Second, reporting more hours than you actually worked is problematic because it misrepresents your income to the IRS. You have every right to be upset. Here's what I suggest: Request copies of all your tax withholding records for the past few years. You can also request a wage and income transcript from the IRS to verify what's been reported under your SSN. Compare this with your own records of hours worked and cash received. If there are discrepancies, you might want to consult with a tax professional about filing a Form 8949 to correct your income reporting. You should also consider filing a complaint with your state's department of labor regarding improper wage practices.

I was in a similar situation last year with my landscaping job. The owner was "handling my taxes" but something felt off. I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which analyzes your tax documents and work situation to identify issues like misreported income. It flagged several problems with how my employer was classifying my work and helped me understand what documentation I needed. The tool basically compared what my boss reported with what should have been reported based on my actual work situation. It also showed me how to document everything properly going forward, which gave me leverage when I confronted my employer. They've got this feature that analyzes cash payments and helps calculate what your actual withholding should be.

Just wanted to update - I checked out taxr.ai after my skeptical comment. It actually identified that my employer had been misclassifying some of my income as "miscellaneous" instead of regular wages to reduce their tax burden. The analysis showed exactly what forms were filed incorrectly and gave me a checklist of what to request from my employer. When I showed this to my boss, he initially got defensive but couldn't argue with the documentation the tool had generated. We ended up correcting my employment records and I received a significant adjustment on my withholding. What surprised me most was how it flagged patterns in my payment history I hadn't noticed but were clearly problematic once pointed out.

Your situation sounds frustrating! When I had a similar issue, I needed to talk to someone at the IRS but kept getting stuck in their phone system for HOURS. I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and it was a game-changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the usual endless wait. Check out how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with explained that employers who pay in cash and "handle your taxes" often aren't withholding the correct amounts. They helped me understand what documentation I needed to gather and how to address the situation with my employer without creating unnecessary drama.

I need to eat my words. After posting that skeptical reply, I was still desperate to reach the IRS about a notice I received, so I tried Claimyr anyway. I figured I had nothing to lose since I was planning to waste hours on hold regardless. It actually worked! I got a call back in about 20 minutes saying they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent helped me resolve my issue with some incorrect income reporting from a previous employer. I was able to get documentation on exactly what had been reported under my SSN and what I needed to do to correct it. I'm still shocked it worked so well after all the frustration I've had trying to reach them on my own. Definitely using this next time I have tax questions that only the IRS can answer.

Your boss is committing tax fraud, plain and simple. I worked as a bookkeeper for years and this is a classic case of an employer trying to manipulate payroll taxes. Here's what's likely happening: 1. He's probably not paying the full employer portion of your FICA taxes 2. By inflating your hours, he's making it look like he's paying you more, which could help him with business expense deductions 3. The lack of pay stubs is a huge red flag - it's his way of hiding the actual numbers Document everything now. Write down all the days you worked, hours, and cash payments received. Save any text messages or emails about your schedule or pay. Request your wage and income transcripts from the IRS for the past three years. This isn't just about the 47 hours - this could have been happening your entire employment. You might have been getting shortchanged for years.

Another red flag - the $18/hr you mentioned means 450 hours should be $8,100 gross, not $6,753. Even with taxes taken out, something doesn't add up. Either your hourly rate isn't what you think it is, or there's even more funny business happening with your pay. If I were you, I'd start looking for another job ASAP while gathering evidence. This employer has been taking advantage of you for YEARS. Small business or not, family-owned or not, this is unacceptable and illegal.