Posted on 12/13/2006 2:48:25 PM PST by APRPEH
And the liberals argue that these wonderful illegals have been paying taxes but getting no benefits. Sure.
I got tired of paying payroll taxes on myself and in 1978 I quit taking a salary, put the vehicles, equipment, etc. in a dummy personal company and took all my compensation as rental income.
Since I quit paying into ss 28 years ago must be why I never got a statement until I was 65.
incredible protecting the criminals in an identity theft while we just have to roll over and pay taxes on money never earned by us.
Victimless crime? I understand the FBI, etc, will not touch these cases and leave it up to the individual to deal with the hideous debts they incurr while illegal aliens continue to earn money on their social security number.
Gerardo Luviano is looking for somebody to rent his Social Security number. Mr. Luviano, 39, obtained legal residence in the United States almost 20 years ago. But these days, back in Mexico, teaching beekeeping at the local high school in this hot, dusty town in the southwestern part of the country, Mr. Luviano is not using his Social Security number. So he is looking for an illegal immigrant in the United States to use it for him - providing a little cash along the way. "I've almost managed to contact somebody to lend my number to," Mr. Luviano said. "My brother in California has a friend who has crops and has people that need one."
Mr. Luviano's pending transaction is merely a blip in a shadowy yet vibrant underground market. Virtually undetected by American authorities, operating below the radar in immigrant communities from coast to coast, a secondary trade in identities has emerged straddling both sides of the Mexico-United States border. The number of people participating in the illegal deals is impossible to determine accurately. But it is clearly significant, flourishing despite efforts to combat identity fraud.
"There are people who live in Mexico who take $4,000 or $5,000 in unemployment in the off season," said Jorge Eguiluz, a labor contractor working in the fields around Stockton, Calif. "They just lend the number during the season." The deals also generate cash in other ways.
Most identity lending happens within an extended family, or among immigrants from the same hometown. But it is still a hard-nosed transaction. Illegal immigrant workers usually earn so little they are owed an income tax refund at the end of the year. The illegal immigrant "working the number" will usually pay the real owner by sharing the tax refund.
Since legal American residents can lose their green cards if they stay outside the country too long, for those who have returned to Mexico it is useful to have somebody working under their identity north of the border. "There are people who live in Mexico who take $4,000 or $5,000 in unemployment in the off season," said Jorge Eguiluz, a labor contractor working in the fields around Stockton, Calif. "They just lend the number during the season."
The deals also generate cash in other ways. Most identity lending happens within an extended family, or among immigrants from the same hometown. But it is still a hard-nosed transaction. Illegal immigrant workers usually earn so little they are owed an income tax refund at the end of the year. The illegal immigrant "working the number" will usually pay the real owner by sharing the tax refund. "Sometimes the one who is working doesn't mind giving all the refund, he just wants to work," said Fernando Rosales, who runs a shop preparing income taxes in the immigrant-rich enclave of Huntington Park, Calif. "But others don't, and sometimes they fight over it. We see that all the time. It's the talk of the place during income tax time."
The income tax "refund" is almost certainly generated by Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) fraud, which as a "legal resident" the number renter would qualify to receive, especially if they have have or claim children. The EITC is a "refundable tax credit, which means the IRS will pay it out even if no taxes have been withheld or paid in. So the IRS gives filers who claim the EITC "refunds," even if they have had no taxes withheld. These number renters can claim up to $4,400 for the 2005 tax year in EITC "refunds," most of the number renters probably claim this maximum refund.
The Additional Child Tax Credit is another "refundable" credit which is no doubt routinely claimed by these renters.For 2005, if the number renter claimed $14,400 in wage income, and three children, between the EITC and the Additional Child Tax Credit the renter would, without having any taxes withheld from wages, receive a tax "refund" of $4,898, plus have $892 credited to Social Security; in addition to the potential of thousands of dollars in California unemployment compensation.
Another widely-used SSN scheme: the illegals name their anchor baby the same name as the parent. They obtain a valid SSN for the anchor baby; the parent uses it, no one checks beyond name-matching, if that.
More---Lou Dobbs mentioned that the illegals are stealing small childrens' SSN because a child doesn't use a number very often so it is near impossible to detect a stolen number. Dobbs also mentioned that business owners give illegals SSN of a previous employee (it is not a felony to give away SSNs but it is a felony to use them).
Another twist. Now they don't have to use rented or fake SS# because they've just been granted the right to collect SS if they have worked a short time (44 monthes I think), whereas we the American citizen has to work for far longer before collecting.
Banks are kissing illegals butts with numerous giveaway ----everything from free money transfer to Mexico, lower interest loans, and so on. Illegals get loans? US citizens have to jump through hoops to get loans.
Actually, in this case, cheap hamburgers.
Generally, Mexican illegals are extremely good credit risks. Most of them have a strong sense of responsibility to pay their bills, especially their housing. My bank makes many loans to illegals and has a zero payment problem with them.
I've rented many apartments to illegals. At times they lost a job, had to pay a hospital bill, etc and did not have the rent on time. They asked if I would wait. I waited. I never lost a dime of them. (of course I never lost a dime of any working poor, legal or illegal. I lost big time on welfare poor of the same net income level as the working poor.)
I've had tenants who had to go back to Mexico. A week or two later their cousin in one case, brother-in-law in another case, showed up with the back rent. They are a great credit risk.
The FBI and the Secret Service (actually tasked as the lead LEO for identity theft) will only consider cases where the fraud is upwards $30,000, so I was told by a special agent a few years ago. I am led to believe the dollar value for federal interest has gone up considerably since then.
Did y'all even READ this story?
Another person pays the high cost of someone else's cheap labor.
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