<prompt> Human: So my former boss mother was the business manager and when I came on to work for them I knew somehow in my gut that she would mess this up. She initially gave me a 1099 to fill out and I said, No Im not an independent contractor, Im an employee, can I please have a W4? I want taxes taken out. She said, Ok. And gave me a W4 that I filled out and I gave her my banking info because I wanted to be paid via direct deposit. So each paycheck came and went, I would hardly check the stubs... I worked there for a little over a year. Now I owe 6k in back taxes from 2014-2015 because federal and state taxes were never taken out, only medicaid, social security and local nyc taxes. What can I do? I definitely do not have 6k to give right now. At least I could be reimbursed for half of what I paid in SS and medicare, right? Assistant: Someone will jump on here soon and give you the advice of it doesnt matter, your responsibility, you owe taxes anyways - call the IRS and work out a payment plan.But my question is if you knew from the get go it was shady around the 1099W4 why would you not check your pay stubs to ensure she changed it - why no follow thru?Human: I never got a physical pay stub; they sent me a link to check my paystub online. I think I went on there once, saw ss taken out, medicare taken out, local nyc tax, and went on my merry way. I just didnt go line by line to notice that fed state taxes werent there... lesson learned.  <response>: if they took ss or medicare, and then give you a 1099, that is serious employer fraud and the irs will come down on them hard... if you have proof. always check your stubs. 