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STLLC2019 t1_ja45zev wrote

Reply to comment by ronreadingpa in PA-SNAP questions, rent change, income change. Thanks. by Equivalent_Alps_8321

Is misclassifying an employee as an Independent Contractor. And the IRS has been on the warpath against employee misclassification for the last few years.

Whoever reports the employer will get rewarded by the IRS. Everyone will get fucked since the IRS ALWAYS gets their money...unless, of course, you are one of the wealthy elites.

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ronreadingpa t1_ja576qo wrote

The IRS can barely keep up with their basic workload. Cash income is easy to spot by an experienced auditor looking at one's financials, but not for automated matching, which is mostly what the IRS relies on. Ie. reported income (W2, 1099, etc) verses what the tax filer stated.

Your final statement pretty much sums up the sentiment I'm getting at "... you are one of the wealthy elites". The typical working person (ie. earning less than $100K or so per year depending on locale) has to do what it takes to survive. The government knows this and has priced that in. Around 1/2 of all taxpayers pay little to zero federal tax; some getting money back (EITC, etc). The government will do fine whether the OP's cousin reports or not. They'll, figuratively speaking, just print up some more anyways. Inflation is the ultimate taxation that most no one can escape, but I digress.

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STLLC2019 t1_ja5kioa wrote

My primary point was the financial gains that can be made by reporting employee misclassification, which happens more than many people think. You are correct in that the IRS misses most cases.

But allowing employee misclassification is also a form of wage theft. It is literally your employer stealing money from you. Which is why it should not be tolerated.

It is truly a failure on society's part that people can be so easily victimized just because of someone else's greed. There are reason why every major religious faith lists greed as a major sin or crime.

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ronreadingpa t1_ja6wgxn wrote

Agree totally with your main point. Going after employers would greatly help. However, many workers can't afford to rock the boat. It's a difficult problem as California's recent push to seeking to reclassify many gig workers as employees illustrates.

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