The argument that it would be difficult to determine the tax liabilities of undocument residents doesn't convince me. First, it seems to assume that many of them were working for cash, an allegation that lacks, uh ... documentation. Even if it were true, determining their income would be no more difficult than doing so for anyone else in the underground economy.Boston Globe
May 19, 2007
Bush Removes Provision Requiring Back Taxes from Illegal Immigrants
By Michael Kranish
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration insisted on a little-noticed change in the bipartisan Senate immigration bill that would enable 12 million undocumented residents to avoid paying back taxes or associated fines to the Internal Revenue Service, officials said.
An independent analyst estimated the decision could cost the IRS tens of billions of dollars.
A provision requiring payment of back taxes had been in the initial version of a bill proposed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. But the administration called for the provision to be removed due to concern that it would be too difficult to figure out which illegal immigrants owed back taxes.
The dropping of the back-tax provision was not made clear in the announcement of the immigration reform proposal on Thursday. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, speaking in reference to illegal immigrants seeking legal status, said, "You've got to pay your taxes." He did not state whether he was referring to back taxes, future taxes, or both.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, asked in a telephone interview yesterday to clarify Chertoff's remark, said it referred only to future taxes.
"It is important that the reformed immigration system is workable and cost efficient," Stanzel said. "Determining the past tax liability would have been very difficult and costly and extremely time consuming."
Stanzel stressed that immigrants would be required to pay a fine of up to $5,000 if they want to apply for a green card to become a legal resident, although that fine is not for failure to pay taxes.
Laura Capps, a spokeswoman for Kennedy, said a provision for requiring back taxes was in Kennedy's original bill and that Chertoff called for it to be removed. "Chertoff thought it would be too challenging to accurately determine the amount of an applicant's back taxes," she said.
Administration officials said many illegal immigrants do not get paychecks that can be audited, making it difficult to determine tax liability.
But Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, which says it has 362,000 members, was stunned that the provision was removed. While saying it would be difficult to come up with a precise estimate of the amount of back taxes owed by undocumented residents, he said it would be in the tens of billions of dollars, with a similar amount in fines for failure to pay the taxes.
"I can tell you, most law-abiding taxpayers would find that provision totally distasteful," Sepp said about the decision not to seek back taxes. "I doubt that many citizens are willing to swallow that special treatment."
Sepp said he understands that it would difficult to determine back taxes owed by illegal immigrants, and he said that many illegal immigrants would have earned too little to pay taxes. But he suggested that the administration could have come up with a plan requiring at least some tax-related payment from immigrants who are seeking to become legal residents.
However, I agree that the provision didn't belong in an immigration bill. If would be residents are kept out solely because they haven't paid their taxes, then fairness would require the US to deport citizens who fail to pay theirs.