I know a few deck hands that work on boats, most the deck hands
I'm familiar with are quite friendly with drugs, often called crackheads.
I talked with one the other day and he was lamenting that the captains of
two boats he worked on sent him 1099s and they were for inflated amounts.
His statement, "I'm not like the rest of those crackheads, I keep all my records and know how much I earned"
I suspect it is true that the captains are well aware many of their deckhands don't have a clue how much they earned,
and the captain can put pretty much what he wants on the 1099. The captains pay in cash, The other thing that is true, the deckhands, have little will to pay taxes on the 1099 or even file a return.
They often stay at someones house when they are on land, they don't own a car, they basically have nothing except a cellphone, their clothes and what money they have, is spent on drugs.
So here is this fellow, knowing his 1099 is inflated, would like to continue to work on the boats, but if he makes a big stink, that may not happen.
What are his options.