<p>I work at an under-the-table job and I make <$5,950.
I completed my FAFSA student and didn't report this job because I don't file taxes.
However, I talked about this job a lot in my essay for Common App.
Will they cross-check and screw my chances of admission and report it to the IRS?</p>
<p>
Do the right things. File the tax returns and paid the taxes. Correct your FAFSA too.</p>
<p>Do I have to file taxes since I make less than $5950?</p>
<p>
You may still owe FICA tax. Talk to a tax person.</p>
<p>Yes. You do need to file taxes. </p>
<p>If you are not on the payroll where you work, you can file as a self-employed person. You will need to file the Federal 1040 form along with Schedule SE and Schedule C.</p>
<p>You also may need to file state taxes as well.</p>
<p>Have a nice long chat with your boss about putting you on the payroll. As an under-the-table employee you are not protected by the workman’s compensation rules in case of on-the-job injury, and you don’t have access to unemployment insurance if the workplace would close. Your boss may believe that he/she is doing you a favor by paying you off the books this way, but that is simply not true.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t file taxes, you still need to report the income on FAFSA. Look around for the line for “untaxed income” and put it there.</p>
<p>You are under the minimum amount a person is required to file, but self employed you may be required to file anyway unless they owe you a refund. You may even be missing out on refunds you were entitled to. I think it may be worth your while to fill out the tax forms to find out… Then you can send it in or not. The IRS has a questionnaire on their website to check If you’re required to file.</p>
<p>Your employer likely is saving himself some costs…he is not contributing his share of FICA, not paying workmens comp Insurance for you etc. </p>
<p>You absolutely are required to file as a self employed worker if you earn over, I believe $400 a year. You have exceeded that. Your choice is to either be an employee or be self employed.</p>
<p>Getting paid THAT amount under the table is just not what should be happening. </p>
<p>Glamorous girl…what “refunds” would this individual be entitled to? He has NOT paid any federal withholding taxes.</p>
<p>If your deductions are over a certain amount and your income is low enough it is possible to be entitled to refunds. I don’t know what deductions or dependent a the OP has, but that income is so low they probably wouldn’t need a lot. Nothing to lose by filling out the form and finding out. The OP sounds like an independent contractor. That is not unusual. I did it for 12 years. Yes, it benefits the employer but it also benefits the worker in the form of more freedom. I actually preferred my independent contractor job to the other jobs I have held that were not.</p>
<p>Should I estimate my amount for '“untaxed income”? Will the colleges I’ve sent my FAFSA to see this?</p>
<p>Put it in as untaxed income. The colleges will see the corrected FAFSA.</p>
<p>happymomof1, do you know if FAFSA checks untaxed income if its a low amount and I’m a student?</p>
<p>
It’s the schools do the verification. See [FinAid</a> | FAFSA - Verification](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/verification.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/verification.phtml)</p>
<p>Glamorous, an “independent contractor” 1099 worker is required to file taxes AND pay self employment taxes. This OP sounds like they just got paid under the table. They would need to declare this entire amount as income on taxes filed. They would then need to pay state and federal income taxes, and SS contributions that were NOT deducted from earnings…and are required for workers.</p>
<p>I am not a tax expert, but I HAVE done 1099 work myself.</p>
<p>What happens if the office admissions see employment on the common app but the financial aid department doesn’t see income on FAFSA?</p>
<p>Probably the schools won’t notice the discrepancy if finaid is handled by a separate department as admissions, which is usually the case. However, it’s not worth committing federal fraud over.</p>
<p>What am I legally supposed to file since I make <$6000?</p>
<p>You need to file taxes as a self-employed person (if you made over 500 I think it is) with a form 1040, schedule C and schedule SE. You probably will have to pay self-employment tax if you file. This represents the social security that wasn’t paid on your behalf and deducted by your employer. It will be double what would have been deducted if you were paid properly as em employee (because you have to pay your share plus the employer’s share). You may be able to deduct some expenses if you had expenses you incurred in order to be able to earn your income. </p>
<p>[Self-Employed</a> Individuals Tax Center](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-%26-Self-Employed/Self-Employed-Individuals-Tax-Center]Self-Employed”>http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-%26-Self-Employed/Self-Employed-Individuals-Tax-Center)</p>
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Get a tax person to help you to file these tax forms. They may be too much for you to handle.</p>
<p>does my employer have to do anything if I do it as self-employed? when would I have to do this, before or after fafsa</p>
<p>I would still put this under untaxed income right?</p>
<p>I would suggest instead (of getting a tax person to help you) that you fill out the forms yourself, and then get someone to check them for you. That way you learn how to do it. I’ve been filing my own taxes (quite simple to start with) since I was 13. I asked my dad what to do and he told me to read the directions and figure it out. </p>
<p>Knowing how to do that kind of form is really a useful skill. </p>
<p>If you file the tax forms, you will have an adjusted gross income from your tax form, and you will use that to file your FAFSA. You will not have any untaxed income at that point. You can file anytime up until April 15th (or later if you get an extension) but since you will need numbers from it for your FAFSA, you should really do it first. However with such a low income, you could just do a “will file” estimated FAFSA and put your whole income under the line for AGI, and then fix it when you file. If you get selected for FAFSA verification, you’ll have to finish your tax filing before you can be verified.</p>