Dear Mr. Marincic:

Thank you very much for your letter regarding the recently passed economic stimulus package. I wholeheartedly agree that the stimulus checks should only go to legal American taxpayers.

As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which had jurisdiction over the economic stimulus package, I worked with other committee members to ensure that the stimulus checks only went to American citizens. Workers in the United States who are not full-fledged citizens are issued a Taxpayer Identification Number in order to file a tax return. This is different from a Social Security number, which is issued to immigrants only when they become official U.S. citizens. In order to qualify for the stimulus checks, taxpayers must file their 2007 returns using a Social Security number, not a Taxpayer Identification Number. This requirement was added in the Senate Finance Committee and enacted into law as part of the stimulus bill. As a result, all of the stimulus checks, which the IRS will begin issuing on May 2, will only go to American citizens who filed a tax return for 2007.

Again, thank you for contacting me on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I may be of assistance on this, or any other matter.



Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator