Yes, we contacted the company the same day we received the 1099. We asked him to explain the amount difference and asked for a copy of the front and back of all checks issued to my husband for the tax year. He told us that he didnt have to do anything, it was none of our business about the amount differences, and he wasnt afraid of the IRS.
Ok....well then he obviously did it on purpose
and fraudulently. Otherwise he would have given you a reasonable explanation and/or would have been willing to provide the check copies.
Your husband is really going to need an attorney and is going to need to sue him on this. There is a ton of tax liability associated with the extra 18k or so of income.
What you need to do as far as the taxes are concerned, is to file taxes using the correct amount. Include a disclosure statement with your return that spells out the problem to the IRS...so that you are acknowledging it up front.
Also, have your taxes calculated using the full amount of the 1099, so that you know exactly how much extra money is involved.....how much additional tax you would have to pay if the extra 18k or so was included.
Sue the company for that much, plus a hefty amount of punitive damages, and then settle for him paying your attorney fees plus providing a corrected 1099 to both your husband and the IRS. Hopefully by the time that the IRS is ready to investigate the matter, it will already be resolved with the company.