Tips and Taxes and Unemployment-Can anyone help?

Question

I was fired from a job back in May. I was making $6 an hour plus tips. My employer told all of us not to worry about claiming tips (even though everyone knew we had to by law), because they weren't going to tax them. I kept record of my tips, but did not claim them with my employer. I know, bad idea, I should have.

Question #1: Who is responsible for this, me or the employer. Aren't employers of tipped employee suppose to enforce claiming tips?

I have been denied unemployment because I fell short of satisfying a re-work requirement, which I would have satisfied if tips had been claimed and taxed. Unemployment doesn't care that tips were not included in my pay or the fact that the employer wasn't paying minimum wage, they only care about the amount submitted to them by the employer.

Question 2- Do I have any rights because the employer failed to require us to report our tips? I've never worked in a restaurant (and I've been in the business a long time) that did not enforce claiming of tips.

Question 3- When I file my taxes this year, I know I'll have to claim the unclaimed tips as part of my income. How do I make sure that I do it right?

Thanks for taking time to read this and any assistance is really appreciated! If it makes a difference, I live in Michigan.

Answer 1

Here You Find in This Blog A Lot of Tips & Tricks That

Show You A Lot Step By Step How To Do it & in

A Record Time Too

http://www.flixya.com/blog/GOLDCash360

Cheers

Answer 2

You should go to a tax office like Liberty tax, franchises are required to be open at least one day per week this time of year--and tell them how much you made in taxes, how much you have made thus far, take in an estimate of your expenses so far for 2008 if you itemize, and the tax preparer will do what is called a what-if scenario on the computer and tell you what you might expect to owe the IRS or the state, and/or what you might expect to get back based on what you have paid in--then you can stop worrying, or start saving for what you might owe come April..Liberty will do this free of charge!

The remainder of your questions are beyond the scope of my knowledge.  Good luck.

Answer 3

You are responsible. whether you knew better or not.  And you did know better, from your question.  Yes the employer was required to have you report your tips.  But you didn't do anything about it at the time.  Sounds like you shot yourself in the foot for unemployment.  No, you don't have any rights now, sorry.

Actually, YOU can be penalized for not reporting your tips to your employer.

For more info, download IRS publication 17 at irs.gov and read pages 52-53.