Income not reported in W2 - tax status?

[contactlink]

Hi,

I am on H1B visa and recently switched jobs. My former employer failed to run payroll for a period of time I worked for them. Perhaps, my former employer paid partial wages as cash and not reported on W2 Form. Now, how would I report this to IRS? Former employer declined to send me a corrected W2 and not interested in reporting to IRS regarding the cash paid to me.

Being on H1B, I am uncertain that how would I report the cash I received from my former employer. Since I already filed my 2009 tax returns with the W2 provided by them, would I be able to file an amendment for this income.

Please advice!

Regards,
CL

 

[CACPA]

What you can do

You would probably report on Schedule C as income - you would then get taxes your self-employment taxes through that mechanism. They (your employer) doesn't want to amend because it is hassle and he would have to pay the employer's share of payroll taxes. The honorable thing to do is amend and report additional income on schedule C. If you do that, one benefit will be deducting expenses directly against that income, something you can not do with W-2 income. For example, if you can make a case that you purchased supplies, a portion of you cell-phone bill, etc... was used for business, you can deduct those against this income that you will be reporting on Schedule C. Given your immigration status, I would not let this slide but don't stress, just take care of it sometime in the next few months.

 

[rtuncap]

Hi CL,

This information may be late, but I hope it is still beneficial. I disagree with CACPA. You should not file a Schedule C if you were not truly self-employed. Your former employer may have tried to take advantage of you due to your employment status. If you were truly a W-2 employee, then yes, you should report the wages paid to you in cash by filing an amended return, Form 1040-X. But you should file a Form 4852, Substitute For Form W-2 to report the wages, not report it on a Schedule C. The Form is available at Internal Revenue Service. Use the serach term "Form 4852" and it should be available to you. I hope this helps.

Russell Tuncap, CMA, CPA
www.tuncap com