New Grad - no taxes taken from pay

Nurses General Nursing

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So I'm a new grad who just started in LTC via agency (and i absolutely love it!! lol). The agency will not be taking taxes from my pay, and I asked them what I should do so I won't end up owing a bunch, and they simply said "I don't know." So I guess I'm on "self-employed" status, and no one seems to know what to do or how I would calculate the amount of taxes that would be taken out from my pay. I WILL be responsible for taxes and I'm trying to get this controlled now, so... help?? lol..

P.S. This is my first real job ever so I'm new to all this W-4, W-2 and all that other "W" stuff lol, but I'm figuring it out.

I work for a Home Health agency and they do not take out my federal taxes. They do take out for state though. I do not get a 1099, I do get a W2 and under the federal section is just says $0.00

You can make estimated tax payments if you prefer not to pay it all at tax time I believe. I'm sure IRS.gov has a form you can use to submit payments and when they accept them.

??? Hope that helps :)

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Specializes in ICU.

When my husband was a contract employee we paid quarterly on his taxes owed. It was a pain and way more expensive than we estimated. :( We called our state's IRS office and they sent us all the forms we needed to set up quarterly payments.

You should contact your employer's HR person to go over this again, get all the facts you can from them, and then call the IRS or an accountant and figure out the rest of what you need to be doing.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

"You can make estimated tax payments if you prefer not to pay it all at tax time I believe. I'm sure IRS.gov has a form you can use to submit payments and when they accept them."

I don't believe that making quarterly payments is an "option." I believe it is a requirement, with a penalty for not keeping up with pre-payments.

OP, I hope that you are taking note of all of the posters' responses, particularly the ones that have experience in this area. And most especially the poster who mentioned that her pay was effectively 50% less due to the various taxes required to be paid as a contract employee.

As I said before, this may cause you to re-think your employment with the LTC.

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But don't call your local IRS (are ya nuts?)

I have called the IRS help line and I found they are very helpful and friendly. I would not be scared to call them and ask for advice. I'm sure they will tell you exactly what you need to do and where to get the forms.

However I agree with everyone else, look for another job, it's not worth the hassle...

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Specializes in cardiac, ICU, education.
strongly suggest that you find another employer that makes you an emolyee and handles your tax withholding. The situation you are in now can become a real nightmare (been there, done that).

However I agree with everyone else, look for another job, it’s not worth the hassle…

What they are doing is illegal. I owned my own business for years and had a few "independent contractors," but I was still responsible for IRS info for them too. If you have a physical building and people are working for you in that building, then you will be paying part of their taxes. The government is coming down very hard on places that are trying to get out of paying taxes for their employees. If your supervisor said they don't know, they are clueless or crooked.

Other things to think about:

Who is paying malpractice/liability?

Who is responsible if one of your co-workers does something wrong and you follow them?

Oh, forget it...too many questions.

Hightail out of there!!!

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Specializes in Mental Health Nursing.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information and advice :). I'll contact my state's IRS and seek out an accountant; I'll make quarterly payments.

Also to the poster who said that new grads shouldn't work for agencies. I got 3 weeks orientation and I work full-time, 7-3 shift. I know some nursing homes only orient for 4 days, so I'm glad I got what i got as an agency nurse.

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So I'm a new grad who just started in LTC via agency (and i absolutely love it!! lol). The agency will not be taking taxes from my pay, and I asked them what I should do so I won't end up owing a bunch, and they simply said "I don't know." So I guess I'm on "self-employed" status, and no one seems to know what to do or how I would calculate the amount of taxes that would be taken out from my pay. I WILL be responsible for taxes and I'm trying to get this controlled now, so... help?? lol..

P.S. This is my first real job ever so I'm new to all this W-4, W-2 and all that other "W" stuff lol, but I'm figuring it out.

What is the name of the agency that is hiring new graduate nurses?

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