working under the table and owed money

[fabulous07]

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

do any of you legitimately know law/business and can tell me what I should do if I was being paid under the table and my boss still owes me money, but he's gone out of business and won't return my phone calls?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[ecmst12]

You can sue in small claims court, if you can find him.

You do realize that you were breaking the law by working under the table, right?

 

[fabulous07]

could I? Wouldn't I be putting myself at risk though? My employer is evading taxes by having me work under the table, so if the IRS were to get involved, couldn't I be audited and have to repay income tax? Which could end up being more than what he owes me.

I wouldn't be able to prove to small claims court he owes me the money since there is no record of me working. Not only that, but the courts could inform the IRS of this.

 

[Antigone*]

could I? Wouldn't I be putting myself at risk though? My employer is evading taxes by having me work under the table, so if the IRS were to get involved, couldn't I be audited and have to repay income tax? Which could end up being more than what he owes me.

I wouldn't be able to prove to small claims court he owes me the money since there is no record of me working. Not only that, but the courts could inform the IRS of this.

You are guilty of evading taxes as well.

Google the term "clean hands."

 

[ecmst12]

Yes, you could get in trouble and you can't prove your case so you probably wouldn't get anything. Have you learned your lesson about working illegally?

 

[cbg]

And this is the same person who was jumping up and down with excitement at the thought that his/her employer might have violated the law by asking for health information, and the idea that s/he could then sue the employer and get some money out of it. Even though s/he got the job, was not discriminated against, and had no damages.

Evidently it's okay for the OP to violate the law, just not anyone else.

If you are looking for a way you can get paid by the employer but still avoid liability for income tax evasion, it doesn't exist. You can do one of two things; sue the employer for the money owed and pay all the applicable taxes, or continue to violate the income tax laws but not get any payment owed to you by the employer unless he chooses to show up and pay you.

 

[justalayman]

I wonder if the USPS would continue to extend their job offer if they were made aware fabulous7 has knowingly broken the law.

https://forum.freeadvice.com/job-discrimination-harassment-30/hippa-492029.html

 

[pattytx]

Just to pick a tiny nit here, it is not illegal to merely receive pay "under the table". What is illegal on the side of the recipient is the nonreporting of the income and the payment of all related taxes.

 

[eerelations]

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

do any of you legitimately know law/business and can tell me what I should do if I was being paid under the table and my boss still owes me money, but he's gone out of business and won't return my phone calls?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

How condescending and insulting of you! While I "legitimately" (as you so patronizingly put it) know literally TONS about employment law, I'm generally reluctant to share my knowledge with people who insult me.

Too bad for you, if you hadn't phrased your question so nastily, I might have been more willing to share some of my many years' legitimate employment law training and experience with you.

 

[pattytx]

OP, knock off the attitude. Read ecmst12's response. The very first response to your post.

"You can sue in small claims court, if you can find him."

 

[justalayman]

OP, knock off the attitude. Read ecmst12's response. The very first response to your post.

"You can sue in small claims court, if you can find him."

I think reading antigones response is appropriate as well. OP openly acknowledges the intent of working "under the table" was to avoid paying legally required taxes.

and unless something has changed the euphemism working "under the table" is only not illegal when it is not used as a euphemism and performed in a non-Clark county Nevada establishment and the person under the table is declaring the income on their income filings with the IRS.

working "under the table" is a euphemism intended to infer the pay is hidden from the IRS.

 

[pattytx]

I've been under the table before, but I was much younger then.

 

[eerelations]

I agree with justalayman. "Working under the table" implies that some illegalities are occurring, while "being paid in cash" does not (or at least not as much).

Regarding being under the table altogether, I have no problem getting under there, it's been happening to me with great regularity (as in every Saturday night it seems like lately), it's getting out from under there I'm having an increasingly hard time doing...oh my poor old knees! My back! My head when it hits the tabletop! Ow!

 

[pattytx]

Regarding being under the table altogether, I have no problem getting under there, it's been happening to me with great regularity (as in every Saturday night it seems like lately), it's getting out from under there I'm having an increasingly hard time doing...oh my poor old knees! My back! My head when it hits the tabletop! Ow!

Ain't THAT the truth?

 

[eerelations]

It would help if I could figure out how to stop winding up under the table in the first place. I mean, there I'll be on a Saturday night, peacefully slurping back my ninth glass of wine while hounding some poor sap on FreeAdvice, and next thing I know, there I am lying under the table! It's a complete mystery to me how this happens!