[Man50D]

The moment we knowingly tax illegal aliens, is the moment we grant them amnesty. It would seem to be a show of approval. I know our legislators are that desperate for revenue (politicians life-blood), but are we?

Your thinking is 180 degrees backwards. You obviously aren't aware the income tax code encourages amnesty because it allows illegal aliens to have their own tax ID number to file income taxes. This procedure is tacit approval for illegals to earn an income in the U.S. and therefore only encourages them to violate our immigration laws. This became a point of contention yesterday in the Senate as the current "stimulus package" involving tax rebates would have included illegal aliens.

The Fair Tax will substantially reduce illegal's reason for staying in the U.S. since it will no longer encourage them to earn an income as the tax burden will shift from income to consumption. They will pay more in taxes with The Fair Tax than the income tax giving them more motivation to leave the country.

[Salgak]

More importantly, without a valid SSAN, no pre-bate. We all know that the Social Security number is defacto national ID: no valid Social could be the key to self-deportation. . .

[phil_will1]

“The Fair Tax will substantially reduce illegal’s reason for staying in the U.S. since it will no longer encourage them to earn an income as the tax burden will shift from income to consumption. They will pay more in taxes with The Fair Tax than the income tax giving them more motivation to leave the country.”

Well stated, Man50, but I think we can make an even stronger case for the FT than that. Under the current system, illegals pay imbedded taxes via their spending (as do all of us), but many do not pay payroll and income taxes. IOW, they enjoy a preferential position in terms of our tax system. Under the FT, they would pay their federal taxes at the check-out counter (as would the rest of us), but they would not be eligible for the rebate. Therefore, their effective tax rate would be higher than legal residents.

Illegals would move from a tax preferenced position to a tax disadvantaged position under the FT.