I'm curious about the best course of action when the person who hired me to care for her dad didn't give me a W-2 and I'm positive she didn't pay the SS taxes and so forth. (She even asked if I was going to claim the income on my taxes!!) I just did my taxes today, waited as long as I could for her to get me the tax form, then just added it as "other income". Should I contact the IRS? SS?
She dictated the hours, location, what to do / how to do it, which makes me her employee. (see below)
As far as I know she didn't pay the SS taxes and so forth (see above).
That would show on a W2, which I don't have (see above).
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/worker_classification/er/laborstandards/
One problem is that the federal law makes distinctions between employees and independent contractors that don't exactly track any state law. Whether federal income taxes or FICA contributions need to be withheld depend on the federal law definition because they're federal rules. State income taxes are another matter; I don't know. I live in a state with no income tax.
It sounds like she paid you "under the table". If you didn't have taxes withheld from your check, you can bet she didn't make employer contributions either. If she asked you if you intended to report the income, it implies that she did not report it either (employers are required to report wages paid and transmit the withholding to the IRS).
Even an independent contractor would normally receive a 1099 (not a W-2) from the employer, but it sounds like she didn't report this income or withhold from it, and she didn't expect you to report it either.
nolo/legal-encyclopedia/hiring-workers-home-legal-requirements-29728.html
I'm not concerned about my half-ish of that, because I made so little (thanks to her) that I owe no taxes, and actually get a hefty refund. (About $300 federal, $1100 state.)
And really, the contribution toward SS is miniscule, but if I have to file for unemployment or (eventually) SS, those hours & that income needs to be included.
So we're back to the original question, which is how do I get that corrected?
What agency should I contact?
I think you might have been better off to have a tax preparer help you figure out some business deductions for that income.