Comments on: What to Do If You Get Incorrect Tax Documents

By: the gold digger

the gold digger — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 14:06:06 +0000

In reply to grannybunny. Did they go to prison? (I got no patience for tax cheats.)

By: jdgalt

jdgalt — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 05:56:39 +0000

I agree with checking your own math first. But if I got incorrect documents like this, and the issuer wasn’t willing to correct them, I would file a tax return using correct numbers, but with their forms attached AND a letter explaining why. I would also include all the original source documents — or if that’s impractical, such as in the case of the MLM business, I’d at least gather all the original documents in one place (you do still have them?) because you will get audited and you will win or lose on that stack of documents.

– John David Galt, enrolled agent, Jackson Hewitt, Sacramento, CA.

By: Goober

Goober — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 23:05:02 +0000

In reply to Evil HR Lady. The first three years at my current job, all the Social Security payments went to a completely bogus SSN (it took that long for Social Security Administration to catch it), because the payroll system would add a zero to the beginning of the SNN. We don't use that payroll system any more.

By: Maria Rose

Maria Rose — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 22:07:47 +0000

This incorrect income records are more wide spread than people realize. Best way to avoid this is to look very closely to your paycheck stubs you receive. They should have number of hours, rate of pay, gross income, plus each and every deduction taken to get to net pay, plus a running total over the year so that basically your last check of the year is a preview of the W2 you will be receiving from your employer.
You also should be checking that your information is correct—name address, social security number, emphasized employee number, company name and number.
Based on your income level the taxes should be taken out according. Consult a chart, there’s many to be found on line, to insure correct taxes are taken out especially if you live in an area with state and local taxes.
If you filled out W4 correctly and pay stubs are correct, this issue can be avoided. Never accept a cash paycheck envelope without a paper receipt. Even big companies have been known to have payroll problems. Don’t wait until tax season.

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 21:36:32 +0000

In reply to grannybunny. Holy cow. I'm glad it got straightened out.

By: grannybunny

grannybunny — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:36:19 +0000

I was laid off from a small professional practice. When I went to apply for unemployment compensation benefits — to tide me over during my job search — I learned that the owner of the business had, for years, been reporting my earnings to the State under his Wife’s Social Security Number. This had to get corrected in order for me to be eligible for unemployment compensation. The Wife worked at the business — WITHOUT PAY — to help her Husband, so there was no innocent explanation for any income documents being issued bearing her Social Security Number. My being laid off was totally unforeseeable, the result of the owner having to move to a different climate due to health issues. I think they had initially thought that I would never need to file for unemployment and were doing this so that they could — at some point in time — “lay her off,” so she could file. Fortunately, once they got caught, they quickly filed correcting documents with the State.