Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 972, Paying an Employee Under the Table.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 972.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
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This episode is a dialogue between Martin and Jenna about working at a business illegally or without paying your taxes.
Let's get started.
I'm confused.
I've been going over the books and I don't see several members of the staff listed and accounted for.
Oh, I have a special arrangement with a few of them.
I pay them under the table.
Are you sure that's wise?
You could get busted for tax evasion.
No one will be the wiser if I pay a few people off the books.
All of the people I hire want a job and a few of them I pay under the minimum wage.
Since they don't have to report their income, they come out ahead in the end.
I just want to make sure you're aware of the ramifications.
If the government finds out about it, you could be up the creek.
I'm not worried.
Everybody does it.
If you say so.
Our dialogue begins with Martin saying, I'm confused.
I've been going over the books.
And I don't see several members of the staff listed and accounted for.
The expression going over the books refers to looking at the financial documents of a business, the sort of thing an accountant would do.
The books refers here not to a set of books that you would read for pleasure, but rather a list of all the things that your business has bought and sold, in such a way that you can see whether you are making money or not.
Martin is going over the books, the financial records of the business and, But he doesn't see several members of the staff listed in the books.
That is, he doesn't see their names and the amount of money that is being paid to them.
Staff, S-T-A-F-F, here just refers to a group of employees.
To be accounted for, means to be included, to be considered or sometimes simply to know where someone is or to know information about a certain person.
Martin doesn't have the information about these members of the staff, these employees, in the financial records of the business.
Jenna says, oh, I have a special arrangement with a few of them.
A special arrangement would be a special agreement in this case.
She says, I pay them under the table.
To pay someone under the table means not to tell the government about it, how much you are paying a person.
This, of course, is normally considered illegal.
It's against the law to pay an employee without telling the government.
Why?
Because the government wants its employees money in the form of taxes.
You have to pay taxes when you have an employee, which means you have to tell the government that you have an employee.
To pay someone under the table would mean that you're not telling the government.
Martin says are you sure that's wise meaning?
Do you really think that's a good idea?
You could get busted for tax evasion.
To get busted.
B-U-S-T-E-D is to get caught by the authorities or, in this case, by the government, for doing something illegal.
If the police arrest you for drinking and driving...
You would get busted.
We could say you got busted.
You got arrested.
You got caught.
You got found out.
You can also use this in a school, for example.
If a student is doing something wrong and the teacher finds out, we could say that student got busted.
The teacher would punish the student.
In our dialogue, Martin is worried about Jenna getting busted for tax evasion.
Evasion, E-V-A-S-I-O-N, is avoiding something, not doing something.
Tax evasion would be not paying your taxes, and the government doesn't like that at all.
Gina is not worried, however.
She says, no one will be the wiser if I pay a few people off the books.
The expression no one will be the wiser.
W-I-S-E-R means nobody will know what has happened and it will remain a secret.
No one will be the wiser means no one will find out.
Off the books is similar to under the table.
Remember, the books in this case refers to the financial records of a business.
Off the books would be things that are not included in your financial records.
Again, this is usually considered illegal and the government is not happy if it finds out that you are not recording all of the business transactions for your business.
So unhappy.
They could come and make you pay a lot of money or make you spend some time in a government hotel, which is also called a jail.
Jinnah says all of the people I hire want a job, and a few of them I pay under the minimum wage.
The minimum, M-I-N-I-M-U-M, wage, W-A-G-E, is the lowest amount or the minimum amount that you can pay someone each hour for working the government says you cannot pay someone less than a certain amount every hour this minimum wage is established by the national or federal government, although individual states often have their own minimum wages, which are sometimes higher than the federal minimum wage.
Gina is paying some of the employees less than the minimum wage, which is definitely illegal.
She says however, that since they don't have to report their income, they come out ahead in the end.
To report your income means to tell the government how much money you are making.
Income, I-N-C-O-M-E, refers to the amount of money that you get from working.
You have to report your income so the government can determine if you need to pay taxes or not.
In the United States if you don't make very much money, you still have to report your income, but the government doesn't make you pay very much in taxes.
In fact, in many cases, it doesn't make you pay any income taxes.
There are other special taxes that you still have to pay even if you don't make very much money.
But the most important, the largest tax that you pay is typically called your income tax.
If you don't make very much money, the government may collect the money from you during the year, but then it will send it back to you after you report your income on what are called your tax returns.
But we're getting off our topic a little bit here.
Let's go back to the dialogue.
Jenna says that the employees don't have to report their income, so they come out ahead.
To come out ahead is an expression that means to gain some sort of benefit.
Specifically, it refers to a situation where you are receiving money, but you're also needing to pay someone money for some expense that you have.
To come out ahead would be to bring in more money than you have to pay out.
So your income, we could say, is greater than your expenses.
Another word for this simply is profit, P-R-O-F-I-T.
If you are making a profit, if you are bringing in more money than you are paying out in your business, you are coming out ahead.
The term can be used more generally to refer to someone who benefits from a certain situation, even if it isn't financial.
Here it is financial, and Jenna says the employees that she is paying off the books come out ahead.
What's the problem, she asks.
Martin says, I just want to make sure that you're aware of the ramifications.
Ramifications are R-A-M-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N are the consequences, things that result from a certain action or decision.
Martin says if the government finds out about it, you could be up the creek.
This expression to be up the creek C-R-E-E-K means to be in a very difficult situation, to have a lot of problems comes in part from an expression to be up a creek without a paddle P-A-D-D-L-E.
A creek is a small river.
A paddle is something that you use.
Usually it's made of wood that is long and is flat and is put in the water to help you move your boat in the water.
To be up a creek without a paddle is to be in a situation where you can't get back to where you need to be.
And that's why it is used to express this idea of having problems, having difficulties.
Jenna says, I'm not worried.
Everybody does it.
This, of course, is what most people use as their excuse for doing something wrong.
Well, everybody does it.
Martin says if you say so, meaning I don't necessarily believe you, but if you say it's true, then I'm not going to argue with you.
I'm willing to turn a blind eye, but you're on your own if you get audited.
To turn a blind eye means to pretend that you don't see something, to pretend that something didn't happen or that you didn't see it happen.
To be blind, B-L-I-N-D, means to be unable to see.
To turn a blind eye on something means to ignore something, especially something unpleasant or something that perhaps you could get in trouble for.
Martin says to Jenna, you're on your own if you get audited.
To be on your own means to be alone.
In this case, it means to have to do something without anyone helping you.
Martin is not going to help Jenna if she gets audited.
To audit A-U-D-I-T means to examine the financial records of a person or a business to make sure that they are correct.
To audit means to make sure that the person or organization is following the law.
To get audited by the government is usually not a good thing.
It means you have to show that all of your financial records are complete.
So you have to be very careful about keeping good financial records for your business.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'm confused.
I've been going over the books and I don't see several members of the staff listed and accounted for.
Are you sure that's wise?
You could get busted for tax evasion.
No one will be the wiser if I pay a few people off the books.
All of the people I hire want a job, and a few of them I pay under the minimum wage.
Since they don't have to report their income, they come out ahead in the end.
So what's the problem?
I just want to make sure you're aware of the ramifications.
If the government finds out about it, you could be up the creek.
I'm not worried.
Everybody does it.
If you say so, I'm willing to turn a blind eye, but you're on your own if you get audited.
You're not on your own when it comes to learning English.
You have the help of our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening back and listen to us again right here on esl podcast.
English as a second language podcast is written and produced by dr lucy say, hosted by dr jeff mcquillan.
Copyright 2014 by the center for educational development.
