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Employee stealing from me... please help!

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Roman102

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?PA

I will try to keep this short..


I've had a women working for me cleaning houses. and one day she just desided to leave... and after she left most of my cliets that i worked really hard to get left with her, due to her talking them into it...


My question what can I do to prevent this from happening in the future?
Thanks in advance!!!
 
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JETX

Senior Member
Roman102 said:
My question what can I do to prevent this from happening in the future?
First, I have two questions for you....
1) Was she an employee, and you were being a tax cheat by not reporting her income??
2) Or was she an independent contractor and you were a tax cheat by not reporting her costs on a 1099??
 

Roman102

Junior Member
I've been cleaning peoples houses for a short while. like a month ago i registered a company.

I need to find a way to make it legal. so that she works for me and i pay taxes and don't have to worry about this BS about them stealing... Does anyone know how do i go about making everything legal?
 
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JETX

Senior Member
Roman102 said:
Hey JETX She was an unofficial employee..
ROTFLMAO!!!
What is an 'unofficial employee'????
And you didn't answer my questions.... are you a tax cheat by not reporting her income (and paying your FICA share) or are you a tax cheat by not reporting her earnings on a 1099??

I need to find a way to make it legal. so that she works for me and i pay taxes
That is very simple... be her employer. That means verifying her eligibility, paying her minimum wage, reporting her income, and paying your employer share.

and don't have to worry about this BS about them stealing... Does anyone know how do i go about making everything legal?
That is also simple. Hire honest people that come with good recommendations and perform a background check on them. Also, have them sign an agreement to not 'steal' your clients.
 

Roman102

Junior Member
what is a CPA?
and JETX I figured getting good people lol... but you never really know who you get?

Anyway can someone tell me what people/agancies i need to see about making everything legal? I mean I've already registered a business, so now i guess i need an accountant or something...

please provide me with that info!
thank you.
 

Veronica1228

Senior Member
Roman102 said:
does anyone know how much do accountants charge in general? or how much would it cost to talk to one?
If it's a small company I don't know if you necessarily need a CPA. You just need to make sure that you keep everything legal by reporting payroll taxes. You can go to the IRS website which is www.irs.gov. You can either look at a Circular E (publication 15) online or you can order one from the IRS. It will give you information about reporting and paying 941 payroll taxes.

Make sure you do this because there are substantial penalties for not paying your taxes in a timely manner. You don't want to mess with the IRS.

You can also contact your bank and see if they have any programs or systems that would make paying your taxes even easier. You'll still want to get a Circular E, but your bank may have suggestions for you as well.
 

pattytx

Senior Member
Well, a CPA may not be required, but an accountant certainly is recommended. You appear to be uneducated about what laws are required for an employer; there are not only federal taxes to consider, but state and local taxes, federal and state labor laws, worker's comp, business permits and taxes, etc. Try the yellow pages and call and ask a few how much they would charge for a consultation to advise you on starting a new business correctly.
 

Roman102

Junior Member
Thanks alot for all of you trying to help me!!!

Thanks alot for all of you trying to help me!!!
I will visit IRS site and do a research.
Pattytx you are right i am uneducated about tax laws and how to run a business ligaly...
I think i will get an accountant because i want them to keep things straight with IRS. and plus when you have an accountant i heard they can write off taxes for say paying worker sallary or other business related expences. am i right about that?
 

pattytx

Senior Member
Salary expense is like any other business expense; an offset to gross revenue to determine the taxable income (among a lot of other things). This is why you need the accountant. :)
 

TCASWFL

Junior Member
Roman:

I run a large residential cleaning business and I can offer you a little advice. It appears from your post that you have very limited knowledge of what is required to run a business so your first stop should be to either your local SCORE office, SBA office or any other business development center (many colleges have a small business development center). They will be able to let you know exactly what you need to run your business additionally they will be able to offer you some good business advice. These services are normally free for a business owner. You will want to make sure that you have all your required lic, insurance, WC if it is required etc. It is always better to over insure.

Some other things I would highly recommend that you do are:

1) Everyone you hire needs to be an actual employee this mean you need to pay them out of payroll (not cash) and you need to be responsible for their FICA & UC. You will also need to verify that they are legal to work in the US and have them fill out an I-9. If you don't follow these steps it will come back and bite you in the rear one day big time.

2) I would recommend that you perform a background check on everyone that you hire. Remember you are sending your employees into peoples homes that last thing you want is receive a call from a customer that their diamond ring is missing after a clean.

3) You need to find a local business lawyer to draw up a non compete/ non solicitation agreement for you this will give you some legal ground to stand on the next time an employee attempts to take one of your customers. No matter how hard you try it will happen in this business as this is a very easy business for a former employee to go out and start on their own with a very little investment.

I wish you luck and I would advise that you hold off on hiring anyone until you get your business is fully legal.
 

Roman102

Junior Member
wow thank you all so much!!
and TCASWFL I will definatly do all you have suggested!!
and if you don't mind e-mail me your e-mail address so I can ask you few more business related questions.
Thank you so much!!!
 

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