A Tax Day Reminder
Today is the deadline for most Americans to file their income tax returns (or, at least, file for extensions). And the usual nitwits will argue that they are paying for the taxes of those nefarious illegal immigrants.
But those pesky facts get in the way. Not only are illegal immigrants pouring several billion dollars annually in Social Security and Medicare taxes to the federal treasury, but they are paying income taxes as well, lots of income taxes.
In 2005, the Internal Revenue Service issued 1.5 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), numbers used for those who owe taxes but cannot get Social Security numbers.
For some illegal immigrants, paying income taxes is part of a gamble that keeping current will lead someday to citizenship. For others, it is a facet of trying to play by the rules as much as possible.
In 2005 alone, more than $5 billion in tax liability—the total owed, including money withheld from paychecks during the year—was reported in the 2.9 million returns that listed at least one person with an ITIN, [an IRS spokeswoman] said. And between 1996 and 2003, such filers reported nearly $50 billion of tax liability....
[A] help center in Queens did record business among illegal immigrants like Dionicio Quinde Lima, who has worked in construction strictly off the books since he arrived from Ecuador three years ago, but was eager to join the fold of United States taxpayers last week.
"I feel it's my responsibility to pay," said Mr. Lima, 39, clutching a $202 money order for the Internal Revenue Service. "And if it helps me get papers, fine. The most important would be a permit to travel back and forth to see my family...."
Mr. Lima said that he had been a police officer for 16 years in Ecuador, before the country's economic crisis left him unable to support his wife and three daughters on his wages. He sent them about half the $12,000 he made last year, he said. "I'm not afraid," he added. "I really don't feel I'm doing anything wrong. I'm working and I'm paying taxes...."
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.
Illegal immigrants, trying to pay their taxes because it's the right thing to do? Now that is a story that the big-mouths are going to keep quiet about.
Labels: illegal immigrants, taxes
