Undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal taxes each year
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
One of the biggest misconceptions about undocumented immigrants is that they don’t pay any taxes. In his first address to Congress, President Trump set the tone for his coming immigration agenda when he said immigration costs US taxpayers “billions of dollars a year.”
A 2017 Gallup poll that asked survey respondents “whether immigrants to the United States are making the [tax] situation in the country better or worse” found that 41 percent said “worse,” while only 23 percent said “better” (33 percent said they had “no effect”).
The reality is far different. Immigrants who are authorized to work in the United States pay the same taxes as US citizens. And, contrary to the persistent myth, undocumented immigrants do in fact pay taxes too. Millions of undocumented immigrants file tax returns each year, and they are paying taxes for benefits they can’t even use.
The best estimates come from research by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, DC, think tank, which suggests that about half of undocumented workers in the United States file income tax returns. The most recent IRS data, from 2015, shows that the agency received 4.4 million income tax returns from workers who don’t have Social Security numbers, which includes a large number of undocumented immigrants. That year, they paid $23.6 billion in income taxes.
Those undocumented workers paid taxes for benefits they can’t even use, like Social Security and Medicare. They also aren’t eligible for benefits like the earned income tax credit. But the IRS still expects unauthorized immigrants to file their taxes, and many of them do so.
Filing taxes helps immigrants create a paper trail to show when they entered the country and how long they’ve been contributing tax dollars. Many are hoping it will help them get legal status one day. That has happened in past reform efforts, and one of the first requirements is usually to prove that a person has been paying taxes. That was the case for the undocumented youth granted temporary work permits under President Obama’s deportation relief program, known as DACA.
So, despite all the political rhetoric, undocumented immigrants are not a drain or burden on the government.
How unauthorized immigrants pay their taxes
In April 2017, I visited Casa de Maryland in Rockville, Maryland, which hosts two federally subsidized centers where low-income workers can file their taxes for free. That year, they had helped about 200 undocumented immigrants file their taxes, and many were waiting in line with their paperwork when I stopped by.
I watched tax preparer Earvin Gonzalez go through the process of helping undocumented immigrants file their taxes. Maria, whose last name is being withheld because of her immigration status, handed him a folder with tax documents from two jobs. Her W-2 showed that a housecleaning company paid her $17,288 in 2015.
As Gonzalez filled out her information in a computer software program, a green box popped up on the computer screen: “Taxpayer’s Social Security number is not valid.”
That wasn’t a surprise. The 36-year-old woman from El Salvador is undocumented, and she told me that she made up the Social Security number on the W-2 form because she doesn’t have one. Her employer never asked for identification to verify it, she says. Instead, she has an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), created by the IRS in 1996 so people who aren’t allowed to work in the United States could still file taxes on any income they earned. (The IRS does not share ITIN information with immigration authorities.)
Maria said she applied for an ITIN number shortly after arriving illegally in the United States from El Salvador in 2009. People told her that having a record of paying taxes would help her with her case to gain legal status if immigration reform happened.
Comprehensive immigration reform failed in Congress, but Maria is still paying her taxes every year. “I think it’s important, and all my relatives pay their taxes too,” she told me.
Last year, her tax documents also included two 1099 forms, for her second job as a contractor.
“What kind of jobs were these?” Gonzalez asked her in Spanish.
“After cleaning houses, I would go lay concrete in parking lots,” she said.
Those two jobs brought in a total of $24,845 last year, and Maria still needed to pay taxes on that income. Gonzalez entered some deductions, such as the $1,500 she spent on equipment to pour and level concrete and the 12,000 miles she drove between job sites. Maria, who is a single mom, claimed two dependents: her 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. With her ITIN number, she was able to claim child tax credits, but not the earned income tax credit, the major federal tax credit for low-income working families.
In the end, Maria owed $1,131 in income taxes to the state of Maryland and $775 to the federal government. She said she had some money saved up because she knew she would have a tax bill at the end of the year from the contracting jobs. But she said she will probably get on a payment plan with the IRS. If Maria had qualified for the earned income tax credit, her tax bill would probably have been about $500 lower.
Unauthorized immigrants boost funding for the Social Security system
It’s true that not all undocumented immigrants pay federal income taxes, because the government has no way to keep track of their under-the-table earnings. The IRS can withhold taxes from those hired with fake Social Security numbers, but workers who get paid in cash could simply choose not to report it, unless they voluntarily file a return with an ITIN number.
Still, all undocumented workers fund public schools and local government services by paying sales and property taxes like everyone else. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that they pay about $11.7 billion a year in state and local taxes.
And workers who get a paycheck, like Maria, still have payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security withheld from their paycheck, even if they put a fake Social Security number on their W-2 form. The IRS estimates that unauthorized workers pay about $9 billion in payroll taxes annually.
In Maria’s case, the W-2 form showed that she paid $1,072 into Social Security and $251 into Medicare, two social safety net programs she may never benefit from.
A portion of the payroll tax withheld from undocumented immigrants — like all workers — goes to the retirement trust fund at the Social Security Administration. In 2013, the agency reviewed how much money undocumented workers contributed the retirement trust fund. The number was astonishing: $13 billion in one year.
The chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, Stephen Goss, estimates that about 1.8 million immigrants were working with fake or stolen Social Security cards in 2010, and he expects that number to reach 3.4 million by 2040.
“We estimate that earnings by unauthorized immigrants result in a net positive effect on Social Security financial status generally,” Goss concluded in the 2013 review.
These numbers are a stark contrast to the often repeated rhetoric that undocumented immigrants are a drain on the US economy. Even most Americans seem to think so — in a 2014 Reuters poll, 63 percent of people surveyed said they believe undocumented immigrants burdened the economy.
Emiliano, a 57-year-old undocumented day laborer from Honduras, told me that he knows many people assume he doesn’t pay his taxes. He doesn’t care. He just hopes one day it will help him get legal status.
When I told him the chances don’t look good under the Trump administration, he shrugged.
“You have to have hope in something,” he said.
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The real story about the 'burden' of undocumented immigrants.
In reality this is not the only real story, this is another part of the story.
Focusing on only one part of the story and attempting to make it sound like "the real story" is just like the old parable about the three blind men who looked at an elephant with their hands and described the elephant based on what part they touched.
This is the part of the story that the right doesn't want heard.
Then give us the rest of the story
The seeded article covers only one aspect of the burden that illegal aliens put on American citizens and legal immigrants ... paying federal taxes. Unfortunately, most illegal aliens will never get that money back.
Very costly burdens which fall on the shoulders of American citizens and legal immigrants are the costs of illegal aliens' welfare/food stamps, housing, health care, and education.
12.5 million Illegals pay 13 billion in taxes, that's $1040.00 each. What are the odds of owing 1040.00 when you fill out your 1040? Considering that each kid costs between 12-16 grand a year if they attend school just that alone probably comes close to using up that 13 billion. If you think that 13 billion covers anything close to what they cost the federal, state, and local governments you're dreaming. Most of the 13 billion get's spent on the Illegals who are in federal, state, and local Prisons, Today, criminal aliens account for about 30% of the inmates in federal prisons and 15-25% in many local jails.
That’s just what they dump into social security. Per the rest of the article that you obviously didn’t read, there’s another $11.7 billion a year in state and local taxes, and about $9 billion in payroll taxes annually. At least read the whole article before you start punching your calculator.
The entire picture tells a different story
Unauthorized Immigrants healthcare cost
I'll see your 13 billion in payroll taxes and raise you 18.5 billion in healthcare costs
Well $20/aspirin tends to add up. Maybe you should place your concern where it is due. Healthcare in America is outrageously overpriced.
Couple things ..... first i thought your thread was about undocumented immigrants not healthcare.
Next, if you're paying $20 an aspirin you need a new healthcare plan and/or pharmacy. I just filled a scrip for amoxicillin for about 50 cents a pill.
Lastly, is it your contention the undocumented immigrants put more in than they take out? Data i've seen, some of which i have shared here, appears to say otherwise.
(1) Aspirin is OTC, not script. (2) There are generics, like store brands. (3) For $20, I can buy thousands of aspirin pills.
If someone pays $20 per aspirin, s/he is foolish.
Or in a hospital.
I think that tube of toothpaste the hospital gave me cost about $20
If they are "Undocumented", how does government truly have all this information ?
And if they truly know they are "Undocumented", why aren't they taking any recourse to remedy the "Illegal" part ?
if the only concern with illegals was the money they generate?
why not just sell tickets at the door?
or...
if we pay taxes on the money we steal from banks....
does that make robbing banks legal?
Everyone who is for illegal immigration should sponsor one person per year, take the burden off the government.
ummmmmmmm………well...…… we have something to do right now. Catch us LATER !
They're not polar bears. Wouldn't be prudent.
Save the Earth by all means necessary dontchyaknow !
Why ?
Why should just the people who care about these refuges wanting to come here deal with them. They are coming here and that will affect ALL of us.
Used to be our government helped countries stabilize BEfore they headed for our border.
So an I.
Used to be our government helped countries stabilize BEfore they headed for our border
So, Why should just the people who care about these refuges wanting to come here deal with them. They are coming here and that will affect ALL of us.
yep...got that "social justice" meeting to attend.
Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala….etc.... Aren't STABILZED YET ?
How long and how much MORE money does it take !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?
Hell, our homeless and Veterans problem aren't stable yet. Why worry about the other guys stability ……. STILL !
I doubt its easier to stabilize our homeless and veterans when we are being flooded by refuges and illegals from elsewhere.
That's probably why we spend so much trying to stabilize them before we have stuff like mass caravans heading this way when we can.
Either way these surrounding countries and their populations do affect us and will cost us some of our treasury,
I guess the question is what is the best and cheapest solution ?
One way or another they are not going away on there own, most "problems" don't.
Then it's time to "Stop The MADNESS" !
"Either way these surrounding countries and their populations do affect us and will cost us some of our treasury,"
We'll see what these other countries do with Trumps threat to cut of funding to them. if they don't comply, I hope Trump stops "ALL" funding to them until they do.
Yep starve the poor till they behave civilized.. LOL
I've yet to meet a starving human that didn't act like an animal.. But, Good Luck with this plan.
How ?
Like the commercial says...…"JUST SAY NO"...….. to "ILLEGALS" that is !
It's not hard !
Say it...…….……..NO !
Again...…...
NO !
See.....it's easy.
Apparently, these so-called poor are more willing to trek here than make their OWN country better.
Imagine what our country would be like if WE thought like that, before 2008.
Before or after they cross the border !
Most humans take the easiest path. It may not be the best path , but most humans take the easy way, some every time.
IMO: we're still recovering from 2008
To be honest with you.....I can't keep up right now, but I'm doing my best. Ya never know when the perks are going to go away again, so I drive myself to keep on keeping on.
NT gives me a break from Computer design most times. It ain't easy just staring at lines day in a day out.
So …..your all for letting' em get here first.....deal with it later.
Their easy path is our burden !
When are "WE" allowed to take the "Easy" path in this matter ?
EVER ?
Our "Laws" permit "Legal" arrival.
"Build the immigration system to the point we can address the influx in present time"
Your such an "American" !
Cut aid to others problems, and use that "Aid" to help "Americans" in need instead.
What a concept huh !
Probably not, Unfortunately or fortunately Americas wealth and prosperity is like a shinny light to a moth. Irresistible !
But , We may have a chance, we could trash our economy that'd do it.
Being able to "Fish" all the time is irresistible to me.....but I know that would be Prudent !
Hey, maybe put forth the "Fishing is fun" mantra to those "Illegals", and they wouldn't go hungry. Home "Gardens are great" too ! Doesn't take much money at all for those.
Maybe it's the lure of "Big Screen TV's that drives them. If that's the case, I've got nothin'.
LOL. “Big screen TVs” are probably just the start. Hell they probably want a 3 bedroom home, (with pool) two vehicles, that big screen TV a new computer and 2.3 children to boot.
I hear that professional "Fisherman" make Big Bucks' I've seen it on TV.
So, Maybe that's why there coming here. We should take this off TV.
"Fist Pound".……………….I AGREE !
LOL.. Hey I think we may have just solved the immigration crisis, STOP Showing Fishing on TV...too bad our politicians cant work together as well. LOL
Ban TV altogether damn it !
Time to bring back the "Pony Express" !
Ban TV altogether damn it !
LOL.. Great idea, that should thin the countries population down, many folks would be leaving not just the illegals.
Some americans would actually probably drag their fat asses off the couch and leave.
I Like Fishing, shooting, drag racing, gambling, and other stuff.
Well IF we banned everything you like to do from TV that may make a difference in illegal immigration, But we'd have nothing we like to watch then either.
lol
Well damn…..I guess I'd have to do those things more often.
Well Damn , That's better for ya than watching it on TV, So good for you !
Someone didn't read the article.
an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), created by the IRS in 1996 so people who aren’t allowed to work in the United States could still file taxes on any income they earned.
Is that specific enough?
yepp... that is specific enough
I will have it un-created by the IRS next yr
cheers
Why would you get rid of a program that collects money without having an alternative or a solution. So you think the immigration issue will be solved by next year and the country will no longer be incurring costs associated with immigration. We at least have some funding coming in to offset the cost.
Why would you get rid of a program that collects money without having an alternative or a solution.
Spite.
Illegally , then many are afraid to try to use it to claim a refund, They do need it to get a job many times though.
I knew that... LOL
democrats - they are the party of crime.
no doubt.
But did you understand what Steve was saying. If they get the SSN illegally to work, they are paying taxes BUT they do not submit for refunds for fear of being exposed.
That equals the government getting additional resources. Sometimes it's best to look at the whole picture.
I'm not saying it's good for them to be doing anything illegal.
Yep cause NO republican Ever hired an ILLEGAL.
LOL
we all are forced to swim in the waters around us. or go under.
I never voted for an illegal labor force but got stuck with one against my wishes.
yes I hired illegals in the past or I would not have been able to compete against others who hire illegals. they would have outbid me and I would have had to leave my chosen profession.
funny how that works like that every time.
the difference? id rather have been able to compete in our economy, without using illegals.
I say, remove the illegals, and let the wages for legal US workers rise.
cheers
So... You're part of the problem then. Did you pay their payroll taxes for them?
Yes because you had No other choice. (or so you thought or that you were willing to accept) Like finding other work yourself.
Funny thing some of them probably didn't either have a choice they wanted either or they would have stayed home.
Sometimes life well it Just Sucks !
I AM NOT advocating for illegals I just can kinda understand their plight.I too needed to relocate to have a better future.
im not a politician... lol that is the whole problem from start to finish. but that is being fizxed as we speak
of course not. construction pays contract and day labor in cash round here.
however, I did report my "day labor" costs to the irs.
unlike contract labor, other than cash payment amounts, no records are required on "day labor" unless it exceeds a specified amount. my bookkeeper dealt with the details there.
I am retired at the moment, but like the mob, they are trying to suck me back in... lol
I have an offer on the table right now, project manager, 80k per year, plus mileage and on time completion bonus'. if I accept the offer? no taxes will be withheld on me either. (contract labor)
I might take it. 100k a yr buys a lot of beer
Really Wally.....hahahaha
Okay, I'll bite. Do you have a link?
I can't click the link. Can you repost it so I can click on it. Thanks Tex.
You're going to make me work for it? Really? hahahaha
I also understand their plight.
most every poor person in the world would benefit from being in the USA
if they can not respect our laws and start out here by breaking our laws to get in the country?
their asses should be thrown back out.
this country is based on laws... not feelings.
True we have enough of our own people here that do not respect our laws to get money, Can we throw their asses out as well ?
No....and you know why.
Yep THEY have citizenship so we are stuck with their miserable crocked asses ! Forever !
Some we do vote out of office occasionally though...lol
nope... they can not be forced to leave the country.
is there something else about borders you do not understand?
True unless they have enough money then we just take some of that many times.
They say crime doesn't pay.
I'd say as long as you make enough to cover your overhead and pay the fines some times it does !
Apparently the illegal aliens who break laws have a revolving door also.
so then.... knowing we can not get rid of the miserable crooked asses in our own country.
explain exactly why you want to let more miserable crooked asses in our country?
Why do you assume I do ?
I said I empathize with them because I needed to relocate myself for work. Equating that with me advocating for illegal aliens is a bit of a stretch though.
True, I vote we end both. Although I doubt we ever do. Where there is a will, there is a way and citizenship is everlasting.
Probably. The overall idea though I think I get petty well.
there are probably some things I do not understand about feelings...
but overall, I think I get it pretty well also
I'd say your correct after what little we've "talked" I'd agree.
Have a nice evening
There is a real discussion to be had on the strengths -vs- burden of immigration but I don't think that can happen on this site. It's too heavy right leaning and they have been conditioned to only see the burden. Forcing members who are left leaning to argue and focus more on the strengths and talent that immigrants bring and discarding or downplaying the burdens.
This is one of many topics that are politically polarizing because people refuse to consider arguments that dispute their beliefs or what they've been conditioned to believe.
The argument isn't about "Immigration" in General.
It's all about "Illegal" v. "Legal".
I'm all about "Legal".
YOU ?
Yep, me too but I'm also not living in a bubble.
So you just "Gave Up" ?
Sorry - I had a work crisis and had to step away. So much for being on VACATION!!!
When have I ever said what you are suggesting? Uh....NEVER. I've never advocated for free handouts.
I can honestly relate !
Man ain't that the truth.
I have a friend of over 20 years, a couple of days ago we were talking and I mentioned trump not turning his business over to a conservatorship when he took office like the other presidents have done..
WOW the man started freakin out. Unreal it’s like he’d never heard it before.
He stammered a little and threw out some crap about Hillary being so rich and then he quickly said. AH hey dude I gotta get off the phone I’ll talk with ya later and basically hung up on me.
WTF
Unreal. I can’t believe my friend is so immature. He hasn’t called back, But just for the hell of I I thought about temporarily blocking his number to show him WTF it feels like.
Ya gotta love the division of us citizens…. NOT !
and the crime. ya see we have a problem with illegals being here illegally as well.
I will tell you why the right ignores the talent illegals bring,
if you can explain why the left ignores the illegality of it all/
Because they're softhearted? I have no idea. I don't cluster with Dems. I'm a rebel - a revolutionary - an independent thinker - a......you get the picture.
Seriously though, I'm really not sure. If I were to guess, it has something to do with soliciting the minority vote (not the illegal votes). The Dems fancy themselves champions of the minorities. Unfortunately, as I've said on a number of occasions, they have re-imaged their party from the party of all working class into the party of minority. (hey! that rhymes)
sometimes we get lucky like that
I also enjoy tripping over a solid pun every now and again.
cheers
I’m all for a flat tax rate where I pay the same tax rate as the illegals.
work for the same wages you probably will. Plus you can apply for your refund and not chance being deported.
I doubt every illegal believes that or chances it.
If they are like me they didn't know this had changed, It used to be most illegals did not apply for their refunds.
But considering it's not my money, they do probably know it.
I see XD is right on the GOP talking points! Must talk about the caravan! Must scare the base! Must avoid challenging topics! Martha McSally is butthurt because the people care about her lies about healthcare and pre-existing conditions! Now I'm sure you might not like Mother Jones, but the clip is all McSally. Why are conservatives so intent on changing the subject? (The fricken caravan, full of women and children, is weeks away from our border).
Trump, Trump, Trump, Impeach, Impeach, Impeach, Russia, Russia, Russia, uncivil, uncivil, uncivil …….. there really is another subject ?
hmmmmmmmm…….
The MSM hasn't picked up on that idea of yours yet.
If they are undocumented how can you even know how many are here much less how much they pay in taxes?
Meanwhile, millions of people who respect our country, its laws, and its borders have been waiting 20 years to come here and pay all the taxes a legal resident pays and do it openly and honestly. To those good people, these undocumented invaders give a middle finger salute and a hearty F-U!