Employer taking taxes out but not paying IRS

[bbowen]

I live in Georgia

So I have been working for this same employer since June 2006.
From June 2006-Dec 2006 I made about 5k - when I filled taxes I recevied a total of $300 as a refund

From Jan 2007-Dec2007 I made about 7k - when i filled taxes I received $32 from federal and I had to pay the state back

Does that sound correct?

Also yesterday I found out my employer has not been paying taxes that has been taken out of my paycheck. I contacted dept. of labor and they only have record of me working 5 months last year and 3-4 months this year. They say its because he is not report or paying taxes but I have a pay stub of taxes being taken out

Could that have caused the problem in why i had to pay last year and got so little back??

I am a college student with no dependents

 

[davew128]

I live in Georgia

So I have been working for this same employer since June 2006.
From June 2006-Dec 2006 I made about 5k - when I filled taxes I recevied a total of $300 as a refund

From Jan 2007-Dec2007 I made about 7k - when i filled taxes I received $32 from federal and I had to pay the state back

Does that sound correct?

No idea whatsoever. Refunds have nothing to do with your gross income.

Also yesterday I found out my employer has not been paying taxes that has been taken out of my paycheck. I contacted dept. of labor and they only have record of me working 5 months last year and 3-4 months this year. They say its because he is not report or paying taxes but I have a pay stub of taxes being taken out

Could that have caused the problem in why i had to pay last year and got so little back??

Nothing to do with it.

If your employer is not remitting the amounts he is withholding and is not filing employment tax returns (and you indicated he is withholding tax) then he could face civil and possibly criminal penalties.

It could be that he is simply delinquent in fulfilling his requirements as an employer, it could mean he is a thief, it could mean his business is collapsing and he's used the money to keep it going (which is not a valid excuse by the way). The question YOU need to ask yourself is if you want to keep working for a business like this. You COULD blow the whistle on him, and given how it looks like things are running, losing a job there might not be the worst thing in the world.

 

[LdiJ]

I live in Georgia

So I have been working for this same employer since June 2006.
From June 2006-Dec 2006 I made about 5k - when I filled taxes I recevied a total of $300 as a refund

From Jan 2007-Dec2007 I made about 7k - when i filled taxes I received $32 from federal and I had to pay the state back

Does that sound correct?

Also yesterday I found out my employer has not been paying taxes that has been taken out of my paycheck. I contacted dept. of labor and they only have record of me working 5 months last year and 3-4 months this year. They say its because he is not report or paying taxes but I have a pay stub of taxes being taken out

Could that have caused the problem in why i had to pay last year and got so little back??

I am a college student with no dependents

For a single person, under 25, with no dependents, it looks like your taxes are running about normal. Particularly if you are classed as a dependent of your parents.

 

[CraigFL]

You say Dept of Labor but DOL has no way of knowing your wages. If this is State DOL, and this is for state unemployment, then they might know how much you made up to the max wage deductable. Employment taxes are "940" and "941" usually paid to a Federal bank and reported to the IRS but even that doesn't show the yearly wage per person. Social Security is the only one I know that can tell you the exact dollar amount of wages paid for a person.

 

[bbowen]

You say Dept of Labor but DOL has no way of knowing your wages. If this is State DOL, and this is for state unemployment, then they might know how much you made up to the max wage deductable. Employment taxes are "940" and "941" usually paid to a Federal bank and reported to the IRS but even that doesn't show the yearly wage per person. Social Security is the only one I know that can tell you the exact dollar amount of wages paid for a person.

Thanks for your response. I talked with the IRS today and they pulled up my account adn everything and they show no record of me every being employed with my employer (even though I have worked there for 2.7 years). They show every other job I ever had but this one does not appear on there.....

So if taxes have been taken out and being paid and everything would IRS have some kind of record of that or at at least show I am employed by them?

 

[davew128]

Thanks for your response. I talked with the IRS today and they pulled up my account adn everything and they show no record of me every being employed with my employer (even though I have worked there for 2.7 years). They show every other job I ever had but this one does not appear on there.....

So if taxes have been taken out and being paid and everything would IRS have some kind of record of that or at at least show I am employed by them?

This was already answered. The only thing that goes to the IRS is payroll withholding. You've already been told to contact your STATE employment agency.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

There have been some inaccuracies state here:

1. When an employer files quarterly for unemployment, they must file the ENTIRE amount that was paid that quarterly. The employer will only pay up to a certain amount for the year. In the case of Georgia, the first $7000 is taxable to the state of Georgia. After that amount, it must be reported, but will not be taxed. For instance, I filed our SUTA reports for 3rd quarter (July thru September) in October 2008. Those are normally due by the end of the month FOLLOWING the quarter. This in turn must be handled by the state.

Now, say this employee files for unemployment in October. The state may very well NOT have the information about 3rd quarter; this is because the employer could not have filed the paperwork yet. But, the state SHOULD have information on work done from April to June (paperwork was due 07/31).

2. When a W-2 is filed, THAT goes to the employee. The W-2 must be sent out by 01/31 of the following year. Those wages then must be reported to Social Security on a W-3, by, generally, 02/28. If W-3's are filed electronically, it can be later than 02/28, but can't remember the exact date at this moment.

what I recommend for this OP is to go down to the Social Security office and see what has been reported as income in years prior to 2008.

Now, if the OP doesn't get a W-2 by 01/31 in 2009 for tax year, 2008, then start being worried. If a W-2 doesn't arrive by 02/15, then there are actions that can be done. I will refer to Ldij on the exact form that needs to be filed with a PAPER return to file taxes without a W-2.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Slight correction to my correction:

Georgia's SUTA is based on the first 8500 in wages annually. FUTA (Federal Unemployment taxes) is based on the first 7000 in wages annually.

 

[LdiJ]

I am also going to correct another inaccuracy. The IRS absolutely does get a copy of all W2s filed with the SSA. Therefore if an employee received a W2, but the IRS doesn't have it, that means that the employer did not submit the W2s to the SSA.