I worked for a startup company in California on F-1 CPT for two months in 2016. The CEO gave me personal check for salary payment.
He hasn't given me W-2 as of yet and upon contacting him I came to know that I wasn't even entered in the payroll system at the time of my joining.
He was literally sleeping in spite of me following up regarding the same from mid January onwards. When I told him that I will call the IRS, he acted very quickly and asked his CPA to work on it. However, they are asking me to submit W-9 form which will end up with Form 1099 (Independent Contractor).
Based on my offer letter, I was on internship and I did not work as an independent contractor.
What would be the best course of action in this scenario? Should I call IRS and let them handle this? Has anyone done this before?