Tax returns for illegal aliens (really)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

These days things happen so fast that if you blink you stand a good chance of missing something important. Such was the case with this tidbit. The headline read "Republicans are looking to deny child tax credits to illegal immigrants." Read that closely again: child tax credits for illegal immigrants. These refund checks average about $1,800.
I am no lawyer and certainly no tax expert but it seems to me that this should not be possible. First, how do illegal aliens pay taxes? Doesn't that mean that these illegal aliens are employed and are having income taxes withdrawn from their paycheck? I mean how else do you get a refund?
In typical federal fashion, it would seem you do not need a Social Security number to get a paycheck at the present time. So a new proposal would require people who claim the federal child credit to have Social Security numbers to prove they're legal workers Common sense right?
Not so fast. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada says the proposal unfairly goes after the children of poor Hispanic workers. Remember many of these illegal families have kids who are often U.S. citizens, even when their parents aren't, because they were born in this country.
Some Republicans and Democrats question why the government is cutting checks to people who have sneaked into the country illegally. So am I.
"We have rules about tax credits and benefits, and it seems to me they need to be applied fairly and across the board," said Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, "If there are rules, they need to be enforced. I think it's just that simple. I don't think it's complicated."
Illegal immigrants have been barred from other refundable tax credits, such as the earned income tax credit for lower-income workers. But a 1997 law enacting the child tax credit doesn't specifically exclude them from collecting that separate benefit. It was significantly expanded in 2001 and 2009 so that many more people are eligible for refundable credits, though the expanded credit is slated to expire at the end of the year along with other Bush-era tax cuts.
"Although the law prohibits aliens residing without authorization in the United States from receiving most federal public benefits, an increasing number of these individuals are filing tax returns claiming this refundable credit," Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, said when the House debated the payroll tax cut measure in December. "Illegal immigrants bilked $4.2 billion from the U.S. taxpayers (in 2010). I think that it's time that we fixed it."
The Treasury Department says that in the 2010 filing year more than $4 billion in child credit refunds went to 2.3 million people who filed tax returns but didn't have Social Security numbers proving they were citizens or legal workers. That's a four-fold increase over five years earlier.
Clearly this is a loophole that needs to be closed. This practice amounts to nothing more than a further erosion of this nation's citizenship.
Bart