Imagine working for you mother. If she considered you an independent contractor instead of an employee, would you go with it or would you argue with her about it?

In this story, one woman is in this exact situation, and she is pretty upset. She is determined to get her mom to consider her an employee, and it all has to do with taxes.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for telling my mom/boss that if she files me as a 1099, I’m filing an SS-8 with the IRS?

So this is messy because it’s both a family and work issue.

I (late 20s) work for my mom. She owns a small business, and for the longest time my employment situation has been… confusing.

I do everything an actual employee would do: fixed schedule, she supervises me, I use all her equipment, I follow her rules, I represent the business, etc.

But every time I’ve brought up proper paperwork, she acts like I’m annoying her or “making it complicated.”

Her mom now considers her an independent contractor.

Fast-forward to now: I quit/got fired back in October and now she suddenly tells me she’s going to file me as a 1099 independent contractor. Which, to be clear, is NOT accurate for what I do.

I don’t run my own business, I don’t control my work, and I’m not contracting out services. I’m an employee.

I explained (calmly) that if she misclassifies me, I get stuck paying both sides of the taxes, plus it’s illegal for her to do.

She brushed it off and said something like, “Everyone has to do their taxes.” Then she tries to guilt-trip me, like I’m being ungrateful or dramatic for wanting my taxes handled correctly.

She thinks the IRS will be on her side.

At this point, the whole situation feels like she’s trying to intimidate me into just eating the tax burden so she doesn’t have to do payroll.

So I told her, very neutrally: “I’m not going to engage with threats or guilt. If you file me as a 1099 contractor, I will need to file an SS-8 to have the IRS determine my correct status.”

That’s it. No yelling, no dramatics. Just a boundary.

She responded by email saying: “It breaks my heart to see things going in this direction. If you really want to take things to that level, I could mention the years of cash bartending income that was never reported, but I prefer to move forward. I wish you could do the same.”

She just wants everything done correctly.

She didn’t answer any of my questions about proper employee paperwork or a W-2; instead, she seemed to imply that bringing up misclassification was “going too far.”

For the record, I’m not trying to screw her over. I’m literally trying to avoid a massive tax mess and warn her that if she misfiles, the IRS will see it anyway. The SS-8 isn’t retaliation; it’s just the only formal way to protect myself.

Now she’s acting like I’m the villain for not wanting to commit tax fraud???

AITA for setting that boundary and telling her I’ll file an SS-8 if she misclassifies me?

Is she right, or is her mom right? Let’ see what Reddit thinks.

This person thinks OP should’ve brought this up a long time ago.

This person calls the mom “evil.”

Everyone is on OP’s side.

Don’t mess with the IRS!

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.