Need urgent help - Employer filed me as 1099 contractor instead of employee when I should be W-2

This is unfortunately pretty common with small businesses trying to avoid paying their share of employment taxes. You're right that you were misclassified based on what you've described - having set hours, being supervised, and using their equipment all point to you being an employee, not a contractor. Here's what you should do: First, gather whatever documentation you have - pay stubs, bank deposits, any emails or texts about work hours or duties. Calculate your total income from this employer as best you can from your records. You should file Form SS-8 with the IRS to request a determination of your worker status. Also file Form 8919 "Uncollected Social Security and Medicare Tax on Wages" with your tax return - this reports your income and calculates the taxes as if you were an employee, not a contractor, which means you'll only pay your half of FICA taxes instead of the full self-employment tax. Keep in mind that filing these forms essentially reports your employer to the IRS, which may create tension, but it's protecting you from paying taxes that should be your employer's responsibility.

I went through something extremely similar last year. Was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what to do. I finally found this AI tool called taxr.ai that totally saved me. It analyzed my situation, helped me understand exactly what forms I needed, and gave me personalized guidance for my specific misclassification issue. You just upload any documents you have (even if it's just your bank statements showing deposits from them) to https://taxr.ai and it walks you through everything step by step - explaining the SS-8 and 8919 forms in simple terms and even helping calculate what you should have earned versus what taxes you should actually owe. It made me feel so much more confident when dealing with the IRS.

I just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai since my last comment. I was skeptical but decided to try it for my similar situation (employer paid me under the table and then ghosted me at tax time). It was incredibly helpful! The system walked me through documenting my income from bank deposits and creating a solid paper trail. What really impressed me was how it explained exactly why I qualified as an employee vs contractor in terms the IRS uses, and then generated a perfectly filled out SS-8 form based on my answers to questions about my work situation. It even helped me draft a letter to send to my former employer putting them on notice about the misclassification. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this situation.

If you're still trying to reach the IRS for guidance, I'd recommend using Claimyr. I was in the same boat trying to get through to someone at the IRS about a misclassification issue and kept hitting dead ends with the automated system or waiting for hours. Claimyr basically calls the IRS for you, navigates all those annoying phone trees, waits on hold, and then calls you when they have an actual human IRS agent on the line. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it's pretty amazing. I finally got to speak with someone who walked me through exactly what to do about my misclassified contractor status. Check out https://claimyr.com if you're still banging your head against the wall trying to get IRS help.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my contractor misclassification. I figured it was worth a shot since nothing else was working. To my complete surprise, they got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 45 minutes (I got a call back when they had someone on the line). The agent was super helpful and walked me through exactly what forms I needed to file for my situation. Saved me countless hours of frustration and probably a lot of money too since I was about to just pay the full self-employment tax out of fear. Sometimes being proved wrong feels pretty good!

Something similar happened to my brother. His landscaping job classified him as 1099 even though they provided all equipment and dictated his schedule. He ended up owing like $4k in self-employment taxes! Make sure you document EVERYTHING - schedules, texts from management, duties, who provided equipment, etc. The more evidence you have that you were treated as an employee, the stronger your case. Good luck!

Don't forget that if you're filing with Form 8919, you still need to report your income somewhere. Generally, you'll report it on line 1 of your 1040 (wages) rather than on Schedule C (self-employment). Make sure you check the right code on Form 8919 too - probably Code G if you're filing an SS-8 at the same time.

Hey Mateo, I totally understand your stress about this situation - it's really frustrating when employers try to shift their tax burden onto employees. Based on what you've described (set schedules, uniforms, supervision, using their equipment), you were definitely misclassified as a contractor. Here's my advice: Don't wait for them to send you documents that may never come. Start documenting everything you can remember or find - any pay stubs, bank deposits, text messages about work schedules, photos of you in their uniform, anything that shows you were treated as an employee. You should absolutely file Form SS-8 to get an official determination, but don't let that delay your tax filing. Go ahead and file Form 8919 with your return using your best estimate of your total earnings from bank records. This way you'll only pay the employee portion of FICA taxes instead of the full self-employment tax. The key is to file on time even without their cooperation. The IRS understands these situations happen and has procedures in place to help workers like you. Document what you can, file the appropriate forms, and let the IRS sort out the employer's non-compliance. You're protecting yourself by following the proper procedures, even if it creates problems for the bakery - that's their responsibility for misclassifying you in the first place.