I’m A Server And My Boss Has Been Paying Everyone Under The Table For A Year, I’m Finally Realizing How Big Of A Deal This Is

Location: North Carolina

I have been working at a local family owned restaurant for the past 5 years. My boss had always reported credit card tips in addition to any cash tips we had reported. We had received ADP paystubs stating our tax withholdings, hourly pay, etc. And we received our credit card tips weekly via personal check. Bi-weekly I would receive a small direct deposit for my hourly ($2.13), which was never very much but I noticed when it stopped happening.

In february 2025 my boss opened an additional location and seemed to be going through a tough time financially (running out of a lot of inventory for weeks at a time, paying people late, sometimes when you took your tip check to the bank it would bounce). Around April/May of 2025 is when I noticed there were no more direct deposits coming in and I asked about it. My boss said that it must have something to do with more taxes being taken out, so I asked for my paystubs but he gave me excuse after excuse as to why he had not given them to me yet. A few months later I was able to access my ADP account online and saw that he had in fact stopped reporting my income sometime in april. I mentioned this to him the next time I saw him and he said something about switching payroll companies.

Fast forward to 2026, he does not give out any W-2s. In february everyone starts asking him for them but he dismisses and blows everyone off. I believe anyone who began working after April 2025 has no reported income so there is no W-2 to be given, and anyone working here before then did eventually get their W-2 but it only shows a very small portion of what they made (I’m assuming anything made between January-April). This is quickly beginning to screw over my coworkers and I. Anyone with children cannot file taxes and get their child tax credit. No one is able to prove their income to buy cars, or rent somewhere to live since we do not get official paystubs or have a substantial W-2.

So my question is what is the best course of action here? Things were never like this until 2025, I make good money and love the people I work with, which is why I had stuck around as long as I had but I’m assuming the longer I stay, the more I am screwing myself over with owed taxes. My co-workers and I are all a very close-knit group, a lot of employees here happen to have criminal backgrounds or have a legal status that prevents them from finding jobs elsewhere. I’m starting to think my boss is using this to his advantage and banks on us not wanting to report him since it will directly affect everyone that we work with.

Is there anything that can be done anonymously while I work here or do I need to find a new job first?

Is there any way to handle this without him having to shut down the place (causing all of my long-time friends and coworkers to lose their jobs), or is that something that isn’t avoidable? Are we all going to get into legal trouble due to his negligence?

Lastly, what do I and my co-workers do about the taxes owed? We can all most likely calculate how much we made through banking statements and claim our income but we have all been under the impression that our $2.13/hour had been covering taxes, when in reality he had not been paying that money at all. Is there anything I can do to get the hourly wages that have not been paid to me, to hopefully cover some of the taxes I will owe?

Any advice would be a huge help. Thanks!