Workplace deducted taxes for six months but did not pay the government

[FordForever]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

The company I work for was bought out and the named changed to avoid bankruptcy. This happened in July of 2008. The old owner was deducting my taxes as well as all of the other employees but they were not being paid to the government.

This man still works as a salesman here at this company but he no longer holds controlling interest. How do I, and the other employees, go about filing our taxes?

Thank you in advance...

[irsos]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

The company I work for was bought out and the named changed to avoid bankruptcy. This happened in July of 2008. The old owner was deducting my taxes as well as all of the other employees but they were not being paid to the government.

This man still works as a salesman here at this company but he no longer holds controlling interest. How do I, and the other employees, go about filing our taxes?

Thank you in advance...

If you receive a W-2 that shows the correct withholding, you file as normal. It does not matter whether the employer paid over the taxes or not. If you get a 1099 or a W-2 that does not show any withholding, you will need to file a Form 8919 with your return to show the withholding. Hopefully you kept your check stubs. If you get a 1099, you may also need to file Form SS-8.

[FordForever]

The previous owner of the company is refusing to give us any paperwork at all, can he do that?

[irsos]

The previous owner of the company is refusing to give us any paperwork at all, can he do that?

Sure, he jusy may incur penalties for it. File your return using Form 8919 and let the chips fall where they may.

[FordForever]

I do have pay stubs from the point in time which he admitted to us that taxes were taken out and not paid (without his knowledge of course by his accountant) and taxes were being withheld. I am worried about this because I ship to basic training Feb 4th 2009 and I would hate for this to cause me trouble while I am gone. I will not even be in contact with my parents there will be no way for me to resolve any issues. My new military job also requires security clearance and this could affect that as well...

Thank you for the assistance!

[FlyingRon]

This should not have any impact on you. You shouldn't be dealing with the screwball anyhow, ask whoever is in charge of the company as NOW in place where your W-2's are.
This shouldn't have any affect on you in the long term or your security clearance.
The worse that's going to happen is that they screwed up even the amounts that WERE withheld from you and you owe additional tax.

If you don't have W-2's by the end of the month, I'd give all your stubs to a competent tax preparer (one that exists year round). Everybody can get a free extension to August just by asking for it. If you get shipped out to a combat zone, they will even suspend your obligation to file until 180 days after you return.

[xylene]

Tax problems can neg. impact a security clearance.

HOWEVER these do not seem to be your tax problems, instead those of your boss.

Unless you were complicit in the situation or derived some advantage you should not have received you will be ok.

[FordForever]

I guess I will try to get an extension so that I can deal with this after training.

Can I / should I report the old business, HIM and his accountant to the IRS? This happened to 25 employees for six months. It is close to 100K in what I assume is tax fraud, someone kept that money?

[FlyingRon]

Don't get bunched up over the "old business". The company that bought it is responsible for taking care of your issues, not the disgraced former owner. He couldn't give you a W-2 now even if he wanted to. It's no longer his company.

Call up the current operators of the business and as WHERE ARE MY W-2's? Explain your imminent departure for the military, they may be motivated to expedite things.

[FordForever]

I still work for the 'new company'. The old company closed down and it was reopened using a new name. It builds the same exact product with the same people, the same machinery and the same patents/NOAs. I still work for this company for another month, and maybe when I come back. We have asked them and they said 'We are not XXX, we are not responsible for that.'

[FlyingRon]

Then they didn't "buy out" the other company as you originally stated?
Or they are as crooked as the first owner.

Well if that's the case you're back to square 1 as irsos says. You'll need to file that you paid the tax based on your paystubs.

[FordForever]

It is funny this whole time I have been told they are not legally responsible for any of the old company's debts that they only acquired the assets. I am the web developer/IT guy and the new company used the same logo but changed the name in the logo which I was instructed to do. They also claimed and still use the old.com which I changed the website and mirrored it to a new .com as well. The old phone number was forwarded to the new phone number as well.

I was told we can use "The old company name" as long as it does not have the Co. or Company included.

"We still sell Box Freight products." is ok to say on the website but not "We still sell Box Freight Co. products."

It really seems like there is a very fine line...

[Some Random Guy]

Buying the assets of a small business (including its logo and name) instead of transferring ownership of the business is a common practice. It even happened with a web development company I worked for many years ago. This prevents the new owners from having to deal with the liabilities of the previous owner (in my case also a failure to pay payroll taxes)

If the transaction happened as described, then the new owners have no responsibility to you. However, the old owner is responsible for providing W2s.

Once you file your returns using the W2s or the Form 8919, the IRS will process it and open an investigation of the former employer if they believe it necessary.

I would suggest using a local accountant, explain the situation and get your taxes done before you ship out. That way, if the government wants an audit or has other questions, you can get the accountant to send them the proper info.

[LdiJ]

Don't get bunched up over the "old business". The company that bought it is responsible for taking care of your issues, not the disgraced former owner. He couldn't give you a W-2 now even if he wanted to. It's no longer his company.

Call up the current operators of the business and as WHERE ARE MY W-2's? Explain your imminent departure for the military, they may be motivated to expedite things.

Ron, that probably is not accurate. Businesses are not always sold in their entireties and its very unlikely that a new owner would be willing to take on unpaid tax obligations of the previous owner.

Most likely the sale was an asset purchase and the former owner is responsible for his own liabilities. That means that he would be obligated to give the employees a W2 as well. He is refusing to do so because he didn't pay the withholding and employer taxes and he doesn't want the IRS to know.

That is a bit more complicated than just filing an 8919. That requires getting permission from the IRS to file using a substitute W2, in his case his last paystub.