Thread: Sessions on maj. Leader reid blocking consent on bill to close illegal immigrant tax

Reid Objects To Bill Closing IRS Tax Credit Loophole For Illegal Aliens

Published on May 22, 2012 by SenatorSessions



Sen. Sessions and Louisiana Senator David Vitter spoke on the Senate floor today to explain a tax loophole that allows illegal aliens to wrongfully claim more than $4 billion a year in child tax credit for dependents, many of whom don't even live in the United States, and to ask unanimous consent to call up and pass legislation that would close this loophole (which the Treasury Department's independent Inspector General for Tax Administration has asked Congress to do in the absence of administrative action).

But, as seen in the video above, Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked the effort. Closing the loophole would save taxpayers at least an estimated $4 billion per year, or roughly $10 million per day.

ADDED SENATOR SESSIONS NEWS RELEASE TO ALIPAC HOMEPAGE News with amended title ..

http://www.alipac.us/content/session...grant-tax-547/

Citizens need to demand an answer from Reid about this! He needs to be accountable!

Vitter seeks to end credit for illegals

by jordan blum

Advocate Washington bureau

May 23, 2012
4 Comments

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. David Vitter made a push Tuesday to advance legislation that attempts to cut off illegal immigrants from receiving the federal Additional Child Tax Credit.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., objected, arguing Vitter’s bill “takes a sledgehammer” to a problem that requires a “scalpel.”

The issue of illegal immigrants receiving tax credits has picked up steam since a 2011 report from the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration contended the cost of the credits going to people not authorized to work in the U.S. rose from just less than $1 billion in 2005 to $4.2 billion in 2010.

“Illegal aliens who pay no taxes, who are not entitled to this benefit … received $4.2 billion,” said Vitter, R-La.

Vitter’s legislation, which is co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., seeks to require that the submissions for the Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit include verifying Social Security numbers. The Earned Income Tax Credit already requires Social Security numbers, Vitter said.

The law requires an Individual Tax Identification Number, but not a Social Security number. The tax credit should only go to working American families with children, Vitter said.

Reid said the legislation goes too far and does not fully solve the issues. He said the Internal Revenue Service that enforces the payouts is working to see if the problems can be fixed within the current law. If not, Reid said, Congress will address it.

Vitter responded that they all share the same goal. “Too often folks in Washington want to make everything more complex,” Vitter said, arguing his bill provides needed change.

The 2011 report stated more undocumented workers are applying for the tax credit. But the tax credit eligibility standards were broadened in 2009 and 2010 only because of the federal stimulus legislation, according to the 2011 report, so the annual cost could be expected to decrease somewhat.

“The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the United States, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,” the report states.

“It’s a magnet to draw more illegals into the country,” Vitter said of the tax credit while citing the 2011 report.

Often the refunds were fraudulently submitted, but still paid out because of enforcement issues, according to the report.

The report argued a clarification is needed in the law about whether the tax credits should go to illegal immigrants. The report also suggests requiring proof of residency .

The IRS response to the report stated, “It is important to recognize that unlike many other tax benefits, the law does not require the taxpayer or eligible child to have a Social Security number in order to receive the CTC (Child Tax Credit) or the ACTC. The IRS is administering the law accordingly. Legislative changes would be required to deny many of the claims discussed in the report.”

After Tuesday’s U.S. Senate floor debate, Vitter sent out a fundraising email . The email touted his attempts to pass legislation he and Sessions titled the Child Tax Credit Integrity Preservation Act and his efforts to “strengthen our borders.”

Vitter seeks to end credit for illegals | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

“Pay Their Fair Share” vs. Tax Refunds to Illegal Aliens Posted by lineholder (Diary)

Tuesday, May 22nd at 2:57PM EDT

You know, I think Conservatives could make a weekly (if not daily) column providing example after example of how government fails to protect the taxpayers of this nation, and thereby contribute to our national debt, when they do NOT spend money wisely.

What’s the point of the entire “pay your fair share” argument that the left continues to set forth IF government doesn’t act responsibly with those funds?

Case in point, provided by Chuck Norris, is information that relates to billions of dollars being issued to illegal aliens in the form of tax refunds. (Excellent article! Well worth the time to read.)

Illegal immigrants cannot qualify for legitimate Social Security numbers, which would entitle them to work legally in the U.S. and file income tax returns, but the Internal Revenue Service allows them to apply for nine-digit individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, which also are used to file federal income tax returns.

In addition, a provision in the tax code permits illegals to claim “additional child tax credits,” which grant families $1,000 per “dependent” child. Roughly three-quarters of tax returns filed by illegals include these ACTCs. With the ITIN, illegals are able to get tax credits and refunds for nephews, nieces and other family members who never have touched U.S. soil.
For example, an illegal immigrant who makes $13,000 a year not only pays no taxes but also can receive a refund of $5,000 by simply filling in five ACTCs. One illegal used a fake address and said four illegal aliens lived there with 20 relatives as dependents, for a grand total tax refund of $29,000!
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, in the 2010 tax year alone, more than 3 million returns were filed with ITINs. About 2.3 million of them paid no federal income taxes and also collected a cumulative $4 billion from the Treasury in tax refunds for claiming ACTCs

(Sigh)

People on the left end of the political spectrum moan, groan, whine, and complain DAILY and WITHOUT CEASING that people on the right end of the political spectrum “have no hearts”, “are selfish”, “abandon the poor”, “abandon the elderly”…it just goes on and on and ON without end, doesn’t it?

But that isn’t the case. We simply have enough common sense to realize that as long as government does not exhibit an appropriate degree of accountability and responsibility in using public funds wisely, it would be an act of foolishness that knows no bounds to give them even more money for them to misuse, abuse, misappropriate (mostly for the sake of covering their own backsides, politically), etc.

When government begins to display that it can be frugal and trustworthy…give us a call. We’ll talk. Until then, the answer is “No more taxes”.

Mr. Norris points out that there is a piece of legislation that has been sitting in Congress, HR 1956, which would alter the law to prevent misuse of public funds in the form of tax refunds to illegal aliens.

Illegal immigrants’ IRS abuses and theft of hardworking taxpayers’ money will not cease until Congress acts. In 2011, H.R. 1956 was proposed “to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require individuals to provide their Social Security number in order to claim the refundable portion of the child tax credit.” But the legislation has had only one hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee. Why? According to FactCheck.org, “leading Democrats are resisting a bill that would stop future payments”!

Please call your representative today and say Congress needs to act immediately to stop this pilfering of the U.S. Treasury by illegal immigrants

Sounds like a good idea to me!

“Pay Their Fair Share” vs. Tax Refunds to Illegal Aliens | RedState

Thanks to Harry Reid, illegal aliens will continue to receive IRS refunds


Dave Gibson
May 24, 2012

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) blocked a move to bring the Child Tax Credit Integrity Preservation Act (S577) to the floor, and in doing so, assured that those working in this country illegally will continue to receive billions of dollars in tax refunds for children that do not even live in this country.

In 2011, U.S. Treasury Department Inspector General Russell George released a report revealing that the Internal Revenue Service doled out $4.2 billion in refundable tax credits to illegal alien in 2010 alone.

The refunds were given in the form of the so-called ‘earned income child tax credits,’ which are designed to alleviate the tax burden on low income wage earners with children.

The problem has arisen through the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) which many illegal aliens use as they are not authorized to work in the United States and do not have legitimate Social Security numbers.

In fact, the audit showed that 72 percent of tax returns filed by those using taxpayer identification numbers, rather than Social Security numbers claimed the child tax credit.

The report states: “The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy.”

The Inspector General recommended that the IRS require those claiming the credit to prove that they are actually eligible to work here legally.

However, IRS management claims that they have no legal authority to ask for such proof when processing individual income tax forms.

After it became clear that the Obama administration would not move to close this loophole, the Inspector General asked that Congress take action to do so.

While the House of Representatives has passed legislation to to this end, Reid's refusal to allow a vote on the measure in the Senate assures the problem will remain for at least another year.

In a press release, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who co-sponsored S577, stated: “I’m disappointed that the Majority Leader objected to our effort today to prevent billions in tax credits from being wrongly sent to illegal immigrants claiming they have dependents, many of whom do not live in the US. This should not be a partisan issue: it is wrong for the government to use Americans’ tax dollars to directly subsidize illegality, especially at a time when our nation is spending so much money we don’t have.”

Sessions also pointed out that the $4 billion being given to illegal aliens by way of the tax credit loophole is “roughly the same amount the President proposes to raise annually by instituting the new Warren Buffett Tax.”

So, for now illegal aliens will continue to get billions in tax refunds for not only their own children, but in many cases for their nieces and nephews who still live in Mexico.

Of course, this is not the first time Sen. Reid has used his powerful position to work on behalf of illegal aliens...

Dave Gibson, a former legislative aide to a state senator, has been working as a freelance writer for many years. His work has been published in many newspapers and magazines including the Washington Times. He believes that the issue of illegal immigration is the most pressing issue of our time...
Read more of Dave Gibson's articles at:

Thanks to Harry Reid, illegal aliens will continue to receive IRS refunds - National Immigration Reform | Examiner.com

Editorial
Give tax swindlers reason to be afraid

By: TBO.COM Staff |
Published: May 24, 2012

Any honest taxpayer would dread an IRS audit, yet the cheats stealing billions from the overworked tax agency don't appear worried about getting caught.

Local police complain that even if they find someone in possession of all the paraphernalia needed for major tax fraud — a long list of Social Security numbers and addresses, debit and credit cards in other peoples' names, and tax forms — there's little they can do unless they can prove money was stolen.

As The Tampa Tribune's Elaine Silvestrini reported Sunday, prosecuting tax fraud is difficult at the local level. Most tax data is confidential, so without federal help, police can't find out if someone has misused the personal information of others, even if all signs point that way.

The state Legislature should look into how to make the unauthorized possession of personal data a crime under certain compromising conditions. Care needs to be taken to allow for the many legitimate uses of this information.

But the real problem in putting fraud operators in prison is not the lack of a tight state law. The problem is a lack of manpower at the federal level to police a complex tax system that distributes money based largely on the honor system.
In one form of easy tax theft, thousands of foreign workers, some here illegally, are getting tax credits for children who may live in other countries or may have never been born. TV station WTHR in Indianapolis has reported that one Mexican worker applied for and got credits totaling nearly $30,000 for 20 children supposedly living with him in a single mobile home in Indiana. The man told the reporter the children were actually in Mexico.

He could get the credits without listing Social Security numbers because the IRS says it has no authority to demand that people asking for refunds prove they're here legally. The U.S. House recently passed a measure to require that everyone claiming a child credit must also list a Social Security number for every child. How else can you even be sure the children exist? What took lawmakers so long to figure that out?

To access your bank account online or to deal with your credit card company, you often have to answer a secret question set up when you opened or updated your account, maybe your mother's maiden name or your town of birth. The IRS doesn't have similar safeguards. It just sends money to the address where you say you live, or to the account you say is yours.

In recent congressional testimony, the IRS said it was looking into better security, but that it wouldn't be cheap. But current practices aren't cheap for taxpayers. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration estimates that at the present rate, the IRS will hand out $26 billion in fraudulent refunds over the next five years.

In a recent study, 75 percent of taxpayers trying to telephone the IRS couldn't get through. The agency is reported to have shifted workers from identity-fraud cases to general phone-answering duty.

No wonder the scammers are so audacious. In one case in Hillsborough County, a man in jail for second-degree murder used the name and Social Security number of his deceased victim to file a phony return with the IRS. The IRS says it got 190,000 returns suspected of being fraudulent from prisoners.

Just stopping payment of fraudulent filings isn't enough. Police and sheriff's deputies need more help building cases.

Undocumented workers trying to keep a low profile shouldn't feel safe filing bogus returns.

Stealing from the U.S. Treasury should cease to be an entry-level crime.

Tampa Bay Online

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