Tax Day Musings: Tax Filings Seen Dipping Amid Trump Crackdown On Illegal Immigration
Stay calm. Tax Day will be over soon. We will get our taxes in.
Some people have worries other than just the paperwork and tax bill. Undocumented immigrants historically have paid billions of dollars in taxes each year, often filing federal and state returns with an Individual Tax Identification Number. One of the primary reasons — filing taxes helps to show the “good moral character” necessary if an undocumented immigrant ever becomes eligible for regularization of his or her immigration status.
NPR reports that, in light of the threats of the Trump administration to remove all undocumented immigrants, some are expressing reluctance to file tax returns. Tax service providers in the San Francisco Bay Area say there’s about a 20 percent decline in the number of people filing with ITINs. There are similar reports from service providers in other areas of the country, according to Francine Lipman, who teaches tax law at the University of Nevada. She further acknowledges that “Sending in a tax return with your current address and information is very unnerving to a population that wants to comply with the law and is actually leaving significant refunds on the table by not filing tax returns,” she says.
KJ