Where can i go to find out if taxes and SS have been taken out from my check and paid?

Question

I work for a company with 8 employees. we live throughout the US and each have offices in our houses. This is an architectural based business with a lot of travel involved. We have our checks directly deposited to our bank and we normally have a check stub emailed to us. With the slow down in the economy there has also been a slow down with the company i work for. For the last 5 months or so we have not received a check stub, our deposits have been about 70% of our gross which was pretty much the norm in the past. Is it possible for an employer to pay there employees and withhold the taxes and SS tax but not pay it in hoping that things will pick up and he will pay it in at a later date. There were a couple weeks in the past month or 2 were there was not work and i asked about collecting unemployment but the boss frowned on it. I called the unemployment office and they said there was only 1 quarter in the last yr that my employer has paid in.

Answer 1

Contact your employer and demand the pay stubs.  Even if an employer illegally pockets the taxes, you will receive full credit for them IF you can prove what was withheld.  Your pay stubs are about all you have to prove that

Answer 2

Sure it's possible to withhold taxes and not pay them to the proper government authority, although it is of course highly illegal  But some people do it, figuring they'll catch up later.  

The fact that the unemployment people said that taxes were paid in for only part of the time is a real bad sign.

When did this start happening?  If just in 2008 it will be difficult to find out for sure yet.  When taxes are remitted during the year, a lump sum is just sent in without breaking it out by individual - that happens at the end of the year.

Good luck