Tax Returns Rise for Immigrants in U.S. Illegally - New York Times
Published Tue, Apr 17 2007 6:17 PM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics, Immigration
A couple of days ago I mentioned problems with illegal immigrants stealing social security numbers so that they can receive social security benefits. Some of them have even filed tax returns using stolen social security numbers.
It turns out though, that there is a legal way for illegal immigrants to file their taxes in the U.S. From the New York Times:
With the tax deadline approaching, illegal immigrants are sending in federal returns in what appear to be record numbers despite fears heightened by recent immigration raids around the country.
The increase in filings comes amid talk of an immigration overhaul, with some proposals introduced in Congress linking amnesty to the payment of taxes. Many illegal immigrants showing up at tax preparation offices around the country say they hope that filing a return will create a paper trail that could lead to citizenship one day.
...
Illegal immigrants do not have Social Security numbers, but the Internal Revenue Service allows them to file taxes by assigning applicants individual taxpayer identification numbers. The numbers were introduced in 1996 to encourage noncitizens with United States income, including foreign investors, to file returns. It is generally accepted that most of the 11 million numbers issued since then have gone to illegal immigrants.
The I.R.S., which does not ask about immigration status, is barred from divulging taxpayer information, with very limited exceptions, to other agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security.
That's a major shame, because these people don't belong here. They broke the law to get here. The government should use every resource available to send them home.
Organizations pushing for stricter immigration enforcement have criticized the use of the individual numbers by illegal immigrants, saying that allowing them to file returns, pay taxes and receive refund checks legitimizes their illegal presence. But the I.R.S. says it is just doing its job as a tax collector, and is not an immigration enforcement agency.
“Clearly, we maintain a separation between the two systems,” Mark W. Everson, the commissioner of the I.R.S., said recently. “We want your money whether you are here legally or not and whether you earned it legally or not.”
No... I'm not going to go there. I'll just let that statement stand...
In the Queens center, Ana Andrade, 32, from Mexico, had other incentives. She presented a W-2 form that showed withholding of more than $3,000 from the $24,000 she had earned as a cook in a Manhattan restaurant, at $10 an hour. Like more than seven million such W-2 forms nationwide, hers bore a false Social Security number.
No problem, the senior tax specialist explained. Her return would be filed under her ITIN, with the problematic W-2 form, and the I.R.S. would simply credit her wages to her ITIN. The result: a $2,000 refund, based mainly on child credits for her two American-born children, 9 and 10.
"Hers bore a false Social Security number". And, if it had been a stolen social security number? What then? Would the owner have had to pay?
Child Credits? A $2,000 refund? Talk about rewarding illegal behavior!
At the next table, Elsa Forero, 35, from Colombia, knew no refund was possible. She watched anxiously as a tax specialist and a volunteer parsed her cash wages as a baby sitter and her deductions for two children, including a 4-year-old son born in New York. The bottom line: She had to pay the federal government $579, but could expect a state tax credit for $115.
“I want to pay taxes because I live in this country and I like to follow the rules,” she said.
And how would she pay?
“Little by little,” she said.
"I want to pay taxes because I live in this country and I like to follow the rules," she said. All of the rules except the laws that say she shouldn't be here in the first place!
Let's face it folks, these people have broken the law. They don't belong here. We can't let them "pick and choose" which laws they'll obey and which ones they won't.
If Elsa Forero wants to "follow the rules", lets start with the one that says "GO HOME, YOU ARE HERE ILLEGALLY".
Hat tip to OrbusMax.
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