[TAG0][TAG1]
- This week, former Twitter employees were informed that they had likely received incorrect tax information.
- This error will likely not be corrected until after April 18th, the IRS tax filing deadline.
- Twitter's entire finance and payroll department left shortly after Elon Musk assumed control last year.
Many former employees were incorrectly taxed by Twitter after Elon Musk became billionaire. They were informed by the company that the problem would not be fixed until the IRS deadline for filing taxes has passed.
Insider received an email Monday from Twitter's "USPayroll team" that revealed that dozens of employees may have received W-2s that incorrectly reported income received from October sales of company stock. According to the email, and the several people who got it, the payouts from such sales "weren't recorded" on the W-2 forms.
In October, Musk took control of Twitter and made it a private company. All holders of company stock, which included employees who were paid in shares, were forced to sell their shares at $54.20 each as part of the $44 billion deal to purchase it.
Twitter will send a W-2 C Form to correct the error on W-2s. For former employees affected by the error, the timeframe to receive the corrections is thirty days. Ex-employees must now file extensions as April 18 is the deadline by IRS to file taxes. Others have already filed returns and are worried about being penalized if they file an incorrect return.
Twitter did not send any email to employees containing advice about how to file taxes, extend their deadlines, or amend taxes already filed.
One worker who was laid off joked that Musk's tweets "are really the gift that keeps giving." Another worker said that Musk's Twitter was "the gift that keeps on giving" because the company had five months to correct the mistake and notify those affected. This late timing "feels like willful neglect."
Twitter didn't comment. The company has now responded to all emails via an automated reply that only includes the smiling poop emoticon.
This is the second Twitter issue this year with W-2s. Insider was told by several workers that workers in 38 states including New York received incorrect tax IDs from their employers.
Tax filing issues must be addressed quickly. Employers are required by the IRS to correct any errors in W-2 forms as quickly as possible.
Employees who are still unable to file their taxes may request an extension to allow them to get the correct filing from the employer. However, they will still need to pay taxes by April 18, according to Lisa Reilly Payton, an estate planning lawyer and tax attorney at Frazer, Ryan, Goldberg & Arnold LLP.
Employees can use their pay documents to estimate the tax they owe and pay it by the deadline. Those who have already filed taxes should amend them when they get the W-2 correct, Payton stated.
Payton stated that "failing to report all income to the IRS, regardless of its dollar amount, is a serious problem."
According to Insider, Twitter's entire payroll team and most of its finance departments left the company shortly after Musk took control of the company at October's end.
A mass arbitration group of hundreds of ex-Twitter workers is suing Musk over his handling of forced resignations, layoffs, and other issues. Musk is accused of refusing to pay the workers the severance and benefits they were entitled to. These legal proceedings are ongoing.
Do you have insight to share as a Twitter employee? Kali Hays can be reached at khays@insider.com or via secure messaging app Signal (949-280-0267) or Twitter DM @hayskali. Reach out with a non-work device.
Contact Sindhu Sundar at Signal 984-377-33887 or by email to ssundar@insider.com
—————————————————————————————————————————————
By: insider@insider.com (Kali Hays,Sindhu Sundar)
Title: Elon Musk’s Twitter made a mistake on tax documents for laid off workers. Now they may miss the tax filing deadline.
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-layoffs-incorrect-tax-information-2023-3
Published Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:22:11 +0000
Related posts:
Elon Musk is being accused by a lawyer representing many laid-off Twitter staff members of trying ‘fleece” workers over severance compensation.
Tesla says Workers United is wrong and denies the accusations. It claims it laid off 27 New Yorkers because of ‘poor performance’, before it discovered about unionization efforts.
Tesla workers assured by Elon Musk they shouldn’t be “bothered” by the stock market chaos
Twitter had the need to tell its employees that the email they received about their severance agreements ‘isn’t a phishing effort’ after many people went straight for spam.
Leave a Reply