[x_plus_one]

Economist Rubenstein presented these and other jarring findings in “The Earned Income Tax Credit and Illegal Immigration: A Study in Fraud, Abuse, and Liberal Activism” at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on April 14.

Rubenstein described the EITC scams as “common, well-organized, and massive.” According to the General Accounting Office, “one-quarter to one-third of all EITC claims are ‘improperly paid.” That amounts to at least 6 million households receiving at least $12 billion fraudulently (2007 numbers).

Rubenstein blames this gaming of the system, not so much on the illegal immigrants, but on their enablers: the IRS (which does not verify Social Security numbers or eligibility criteria and which publishes Spanish-language materials about the EITC); tax preparation and filing services, such as H & R Block; and advocacy groups, such as the left-wing Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The latter, for example, offers outreach programs designed to hook immigrants into the EITC entitlement culture.

[muawiyah]

Rubenstein is providing cover for people like Rangel, etc. who have millions of dollars in assets and very high incomes.

If IRS kept the auditors and dispensed with the audits of the EITC filings, these additional resources could be thrown against the high dollar value earners and income tax proceeds would skyrocket.

Audits of EITC waste $100 for every $1 earned.