Another Leasing Scam--advice please

Do you plan on getting the IRS to go after the company to pay your taxes? If you signed a lease with the carrier I think you will find it difficult to make a case that you were an employee. Frankly, I don't understand why it would even be an issue in your case. You apparently have a breach of contract issue. That comes under basic contract law. The best thing for you to do is call a lawyer and talk with them. Most will give you your first visit at no charge. Even if they charged for an hour of their time, it would be a small price to pay to see whether you have a case.

 

I think your best angle is going to be an IRS assault working the I/C angle. Just be careful for if you jiggle big brothers chain, he will look....at you, them, you neighbor, the dog.............

Know your stuff and know it well then smoke the carriers arse!

JMO

 

Sounds like you paid some stupid tax! I've paid my share of stupid tax! How much do they owe you not counting truck payments? I don't see how you would get the truck payments back, but I could be wrong. Good lick on getting anything for the explorer report or credit damages. Sounds like there were plenty of reasons over four years to cut your loses before it got to this point! Just my 2 cents!

 

Duplicate post.

 

It is beginning to sound like you failed to pay your taxes and now want to find an excuse to get the IRS involved to save you. You entered into a contract. There is no need to get the IRS involved. They don't do contract law. Just pay your taxes and go on about your business. If you can't pay them then try to work out a repayment plan with the IRS. If you had the expenses you stated then you should not have much of a tax obligation, if any. If the company broke the agreement you had several chances to walk away or speak with a lawyer.

 

I dont think he could get his truck payments back. If for some reason he would be classified as not an independant contractor then all the payments and all that will go out the window.....plenty do not pay quarterly. Im one of them, I paid one time, the first quarter of 2OO4, never done it again. Like G/man said its a breach of contract issue, you wont be able to go back and say u werent an I/C because of said breach.

 

Taz, NO COMPANY can ever force you to take a load without doing a 34. If you run illegally, and get caught that is on you, and the company will not defend you. My husband and I have had several conversations about running illegal just because a dispatcher wants you to because it's his drivers license on the line...not theirs. The way we stopped it from happening was to have him go back to E-logs because you can't fudge those, and a dispatcher can't force to run when you are out of hours on e-logs.

As far as the cell phone goes...you are correct that if a company requires you to use a certain type of phone then it is to be paid by the company. If a driver has the type of phone that the company requires they are to reimburse you for the usage of your phone. However, if they do not require a certain phone to be used for bol, dispatching messages, and so forth then they are not required to reimburse you for the use of your phone. That is when you can take your monthly payments for the cell phone and deduct it from your expenses on taxes at the end of the year.

I agree with G/Man and that if you do another l/p or o/o then I would join the OOIDA, because they do have a lot of benefits to help drivers out. I don't think you will recoop the truck payments you have made, but there are other areas that you may get reimbursed for. Let us know what the lawyer says, because I am really curious to see what they say. I wish you good luck, and I hope things turn out okay for you.

 

If he was a lease purchase or owner operator he may be required to have a cell phone or qualcom for dispatch. It depends on the contract. Whatever terms are in the contract is what he will be held to in a court of law, should it go that far. All terms and costs should have been listed in the contract. You don't make an agreement and then when things don't go as expected or as you wish you then decide that the contract is not valid. Or, you decide that you will try to get the IRS to beat up on them. I would have had a lot more sympathy if the poster had not mentioned about getting the IRS involved. He may just not want to pay his taxes and sees this as an easy way out to avoid paying his tax obligation. There is no valid reason to involve the IRS unless he is attempting to avoid paying his taxes. When you have a contract dispute you either sit down and work it out or hire a lawyer to do it for you. The poster is a good example of why people should not get involved in a lease purchase with their carrier. They should also not get into a lease purchase agreement without some money set aside and have a lawyer look over the agreement before they sign their name.