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[quote=Anonymous]If you are uncomfortable paying illegally then you should find someone with legal employment status and be sure to pay them appropriately (taxes withheld etc...)

You can give her good notice and a wonderful reference.

You are unlikely to be arrested but there are definite risks, including:

- getting caught by the IRS and being subject to all back taxes and significant fines
- being in a riskier position should your employee ever want to take any action against you (workers comp issues, legal claims, reporting you to the IRS) - admittedly smaller risks right now while she's illegal but those things can change.  What if she tries to update her status and answers questions about her employment honestly?  Then you're very exposed.
- jeopardy for employment status for you and/or your husband should you ever want a job for which transparency or security clearance is required

Also, in terms of helping her, if she ever hopes to be legal to work here, and reap any of the benefits such as unemployment, social security, etc... then she will need to have her income legally reported.

I'm an MB and both I and my husband feel pretty strongly about paying people legally, so the moral/ethical arguments answered this for us even before contemplating the risks.

Only you can decide how to weigh the moral and legal issues against the costs and individuals in your situation.[/quote]

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