FACT:Undocumented workers pay taxes?

Question

According to Snopes, 40% of undocumented are paid in cash, not in a regular check with deductions. That means 60% of them are paid with a check and have the same deductions

The minutemen site (obviously biased) states that it is 62% that are paid in cash.

So, respectively, 38 - 60% of them are, in fact, paying taxes on their income.

Plus, they pay taxes when they buy a home, a car. They pay taxes when they purchase anything from a store. Sales tax is paid. They pay property taxes if they own a home. They pay tolls on our roads, they buy gas from our stations, they pay for entrance into ball games, six flags, water parks, etc. They pay for dinner out, for party supplies, food, groceries, and clothing. They pay for electricity and gas, water and sewer.

While 38-60% is a fairly low number, it means that about half of them DO PAY TAXES. And, by both sites agreement, those that don't are nearly always migrant workers, and, are only in the country for a couple months

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/taxes.asp

-40% of workers in L.A. County are being paid cash & not paying taxes.- United citizens of america website http://www.wakeupusa.net/

-Minutemen website: bright hard to read, half way down page. http://freedomfighterradioshow.blogspot.com/2007/08/illegal-alien-contributions-to-us.html

I am not going to argue whether or not the amount that is "taken" is comparable to the amount that is paid. I merely can't handle the generalizations of "they never pay taxes!" anymore. Quite often, they do.

Good point, El chile- if they had some kind of work permit, they WOULD be paying the same as you & I.

Autism Mom- Sometimes the pay with "fake" cards, or, with a TIN number. The point is, though, when the checks are written, those (FICA, etc) are taken out of their checks and sent to the government just like the rest of ours.

Answer 1

Those who are paid "off the books" are still paying taxes, since the employer cannot deduct their wages from his gross income, which raises his net income and increases his tax.

Also, you aren't required to file a return if you make less than $8450 or $16900 for a married couple. You really don't owe any tax worth mentioning until you are over $20,000-$30,000 (more if you have dependants). Besides, people who make under $100,000 pay less than 40% of the individual income tax in the U.S. (used to be 10% before the Republicans cut taxes on the rich), and that is only 25% of the total IRS revenue (Corporations and estates pay the rest) so how many of us are really paying their fair share of taxes?

Under our treaty with Mexico (and many other countries), you are a U.S. Resident for tax purposes after you have spent 183 days in the U.S., regardless of your immigration status. Foreigners with any type of visa (or none) can get an ITIN by requesting one from IRS.

Answer 2

Many illegal aliens work under the table and pay no tax except sales tax which does not support health care or education or other services illegal aliens use. Those who pay federal taxes typically take so many deductions little is taken out. Very few pay the property taxes applicable to schools. However, even when poor people pay all taxes for their income bracket, those in the higher income brackets pay the lion's share of the cost of education for poor children and health care for the family. That is because the middle and higher income groups subsidize these services for the poor. That is why we and all countries that subsidize services for the poor limit the number of poor immigrants who can come. They are simply too expensive and drain services of funds needed to support our own people. Since they are subsidized, many poor from countries with fewer subsidized services want to come here. That is why the line is long. However our immigration laws need to fit our needs, not the needs of foreigners who want us to subsidize their lifestyle. Coming and taking services without permission is stealing. Also, back taxes would only be for 5 years, and how is anyone going to be able to prove what they were? If I had a lot of preconditions met regarding border security and dismantling the employment and benefits magnets that draw illegals here, I'd be ok with legalizing screened illegals (not citizenship and not with the right to quadrupal their numbers by bringing more family in). However, there is no chance that they pay for themselves through taxes.

Answer 3

You are right Amanda. And many illegal immigrants DO pay their income taxes and fill their returns!

I had my 1040 and I had to fill a form 5471 and fill a form W-7 Application for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number ITIN which is a # to put on the 1040 .

For the ITIN, the IRS asks for ID so they know that:
1. you are who you say you are

2. you are a foreign national

3. you are not dead

4. and that you really need of an ITIN to put on the return.

The ID does not have say anything to the IRS about whether you are legal or not. They don't care and it's not their business.

Many people apply for ITINs every year and get them. Probably the majority of them are not legal residents in the US.

What the hell many people are trying to do the right thing and at least be legal with income taxes. Isn't that worth something?

BTW I don't want to read people saying that illegal immigrants they are just trying to get refunds or write off their kids. First they can't get the child earned income credit or social security. Second anyone has a legal right to legitimate income tax deductions.

Answer 4

Illegals are paid in cash. ( As far as I know) Their employers pay them less than minimal salary already. For them to pay taxes they need to fill an ITIN form. Their employers can help then with this when they fill the paperwork to get the ITIN number. If the employer does not give evidence on how much money they make or if the employer hire then illegally and the employer also wants to cover itself, how will they obtain the ITIN number? Sometimes the fault does not rest on the immigrant.
Many of the immigrants who works in corporations are working there LEGALLY with a work visa, even if they are not citizens. When that permit expires then they need to return. This is an issue that still complicated and is not easy to resolve if we don't get better informtion on how that works instead of criticizing what we don't know. It is better to live in peace.

Answer 5

FACT: the employer may take taxes out of their checks, but they are not reporting these illegals to the IRS as employees. The employees reported are only the ones that have two forms of ID and filled out the IRS form at the time of hire. Other illegal employees are not actually reported and the employer taking taxes out of a check does not mean these taxes are actually paid. The employer keeps that money.

Answer 6

Yeah, 38 - 60% of them pay taxes, but what about the other 40 - 62% of them? Why aren't they paying? Just because they pay taxes doesn't mean they belong in the U.S.

The bottom line: They're illegal and nothing excuses that. Not their contributions to society (which aren't a lot) or how they might live like an actual citizen does. Nothing can cover up the fact they don't belong here and are breaking the law like a common criminal by being here.

Answer 7

Yes, a certain percentage do pay taxes, but as several other respondents pointed out, they pad their exemptions and pay a fraction of what is paid by a citizen with the same income.

More important is not the amount that illegals pay in, but the amount they take out. Many hospitals, especially in the southwest have gone bankrupt due to the overwhelming costs of treating ( which they are required to do) illegals. They take from the public in other ways as well.....how many times have you heard of an illegal being involved in an auto accident with no insurance and no verifiable source of income....who do you suppose pays for the damages? Who do you suppose pays for the medical bills incurred? Free education, welfare, food stamps, free medical care, etc. etc. etc. etc.......

You are focusing on the wrong part of the story.

Answer 8

good point never thought of it that way remember americans are more worried about imigrants taking there money yet they spend it on some stupid things in the big picture space program and the war on "terror of running out of oil" bad for people like bush who own oil pumps k. so here is a solution we stop war invest money in medical services for other less fortunates slowly fund new fuel sources and we kill like 4 birds with a stone
1) Stop killing people in other countries thats not helping
2) get rid of global warming
3) healthier people
4) you have peice of mind my money funds saving peoples lifes not killing them or discovering a frozen stream of water millions of miles away
p.s raise teacher salaries lol no seriously

Answer 9

They don't deserve a work permit. If we gave them work permits or amnesty, that would not change the way they live (mooching of the system and tax payers)
And I don't believe for one minute that the majority of them pay taxes. They don't pay taxes on free E.R. visits or free health care at the local health department, or WIC, Food stamps, and medicaid. Heck, they can even get their school supplies for free and get free college educations.
To say that migrant workers are only here a couple months if false.
Illegal is illegal.

Answer 10

Have you considered that the illegals who do have payroll taxes deducted from their paycheck claim a lot of dependents so they only deduct a minimal amount, then they don't file a tax return. They're only paying a fraction of what they really owe. The ones who get paid under the table don't pay any at all. That's a really bad deal for those of us who have to pay every penny we owe, with a lot of it going to pay for hospitals and schools which are being used by people who aren't supposed to be here at all.