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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006 General Board Posts >> Disturbing tax statement
        
(Message started by: imnotbub on May 18^th, 2006, 10:21am)

Title: Disturbing tax statement
Post by imnotbub on May 18^th, 2006, 10:21am

I was at my sons soccer tryout last night and one of the other kid's dad started to describe what he said was happening in a rural area close to where I live. He stated that there were lawyers approaching the illegals in the area that are hired by the local growers, and "educating" them about new tax laws that will benefit them. He went on to say that since the pickers make less money than the taxable minimum, and that they have SS numbers, albeit fake ones, that they will not only be able to claim the taxes witheld from there pay in it's entirety,(yes, they pay taxes to the fake ss number accounts, which up until now, was kept by the govt.), but that they will receive an additional $1000 for every dependant that they can claim, INCLUDING FAMILY LIVING IN MEXICO!. I was always under the impression that you can only get back what you pay, but he was adament about this. He said he knows it because he falls under the minimum amount himself and he gets the deduction as well. He was furious, as I will be if this turns out to be true. Has anyone else heard about this refund program?
Steve

Title: Re: Disturbing tax statement
Post by Drk^Angel on May 18^th, 2006, 1:40pm

$1000 per child sounds like the child tax credit, but there is criteria to be met to claim it. Also, there is the Earned Income Credit that changes based on income and number of dependents. Finally, there's the Additional Child Tax Credit which has it's own set of criteria. Can't remember all the details, and don't have time right now, but you can read all about them on http://www.irs.gov/.

I doubt that the illegals would be able to claim all that, because if their SS# is fake or stolen, it'll likely throw a red flag in the system for an audit. I know that if the SS# doesn't match the name at the SSA, the IRS can refuse the return until the issue is resolved. Dunno what happens if you claim to not have an SS#. Also, most illegals are paid under the table, so that the employer can pay them less than minimum wage, so I doubt that they're withholding any federal taxes for them.

Maybe the lawyers are trying to help them get amnesty.

PFDAN............................................ Drk^Angel

Title: Re: Disturbing tax statement
Post by Karla on May 18^th, 2006, 1:46pm

Well I remember years ago when we were a family of 5 only making 12,000 a year that we claimed exempt on our withholding during the year and then at the end of the year we would get the earned income credit and get back like $3000. This is probably what your friend is talking about. My mother argued with me for years if that was leagal or not. I had an accountant loook at it and he agreed it was legal.

Title: Re: Disturbing tax statement
Post by BarbaraD on May 18^th, 2006, 3:40pm

Earned Income Credit is a ripoff to the taxpayers (or those of us who don't get it). It goes up to around $4500 if you have two dependent kids and fall into the right income category (9-11,000) of income.

Over the years people have "borrowed" kids to get it. If they had over two kids they "loaned" the others to someone else so everyone could get the EIC. It's been abused since it started, but that's ok -- we can pay for people to have kids. Why shouldn't the illegals do it also.

They have been coming down on some people lately, but not nearly enough. I've had a couple of "legitimate" clients get checked and have to send in school records showing that the kids lived with the people who took them (grandparents). They did, but it took a while to get their refund (and they didn't get EIC).

Oh well......

Hugs BD