ICE, IRS agreement: Immigrant tax filing down, preparers say
ICE, IRS reach agreement to share tax info
For years, undocumented immigrants have been encouraged to file taxes. But this season, tax preparers said people are afraid that filing could put them at risk of deportation.
MILWAUKEE - For years, undocumented immigrants have been encouraged to file taxes. But this season, tax preparers said people are afraid that filing could put them at risk of deportation.
ICE, IRS agreement
The backstory:
This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reached an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share confidential taxpayer information with immigration officers.
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Earlier this week, Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause announced she is resigning after the agency agreed to share immigrants tax data with ICE. She held the position since February.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Immigrants scared to file
What they're saying:
Itzel Ramirez has filed taxes for Latinos on Milwaukee's south side for 15 years. But this year, she said people are just scared to do their taxes.
"I'm used to seeing person after person come into my office," she said.
"I think we will start seeing the trickle-down effect of the lack of immigrant groups of people that just aren't filing this year because it is unknown, and they're scared," said Aneiia Steele with Royalty Tax Services.
Steele has seen a decrease among her Latino, Jamaican and African immigrant clientele that use an individual taxpayer identification number, or TIN. It's assigned to people without a social security number in order to do their taxes.
FOX6 News asked Steele what percent of her customers use a TIN to file taxes.
"I see 3,000 clients that I work with. I would say I have a good 30% of clients (that use a TIN)," she said. "I have probably seen less than 5%, from 30%, this year.
Lost tax revenue
Dig deeper:
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022.
"Low income tax pay assistant sites, stuff like that, feel terrible because they've been promising undocumented people, 'It's OK, you should pay your taxes," said Susannah Tahk, a professor of tax law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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The institute said, for every 10% drop in taxes filed among undocumented immigrants, the country could lose
$9.5 billion in revenue per tax year.
Editor's note: FOX6 News translated some quotes from Spanish into English
The Source: