prior to that, I was with the same company as a temp employee. My boss is having trouble making payroll, so I have the next two weeks off. I'm concerned I'm going to be laid off. If I apply for unemployment, and just leave it up to the boss to defend why he isn't paying the taxes, am I going to be stuck with a tax bill? Will I even have a shot at getting unemployment? I think bosses defense will probably be that he was going to give me a 1099. Will that hold up? Sorry for the long post.

If you were doing the same work you were doing before, the employer was in violation of a bunch of laws by treating you as an IC when you didn't meet the criteria.

YOU will have the same "tax bill" you would have if you were an employee, except you will have to pay both portions of FICA and Medicare.

If you file for unemployment, yes, the employer will have to satisfy the department that you were not an employee. That's pretty hard to do. There can also be penalties to the employer for not withholding/paying over taxes as required, failure to pay overtime or comply with other wage and hour laws, failure to provide Work Comp coverage, etc.