Posted on 07/01/2006 6:07:10 PM PDT by pigdog
Illegal Immigrants and Others Working Off the Books Cost the U.S. Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in Unpaid Taxes
America has two economies: First, there's the legitimate economy, in which craftsmen are licensed and employers and employees pay taxes. Then there's the fast-growing underground economy, where millions of nannies, construction workers, landscapers and others are paid off the books, their incomes largely untaxed. The best guess as to the size of the output of this shadow economy is about $970 billion, or nearly 9% that of the real economy. It could soon pass $1 trillion.
What is largely fueling the underground economy, experts say, is the nation's growing ranks of low-wage, illegal immigrants. The government puts this population at 8.5 million, but that may represent a serious undercount. Robert Justich, a senior managing director at Bear Stearns Asset Management, makes a persuasive case in a recent research report that illegal immigrants actually number 18 million to 20 million. If that's true, the economic implications are profound and could help shape this year's debates over both immigration policies and tax reform.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsjclassroom.com ...
The only thing which will reduce the tax burden is a reduction in how much the Government spends. Anything else is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Unless and until some of the extraneous programs, earmarks, and waste are removed from the public tab, regardless of HOW we pay it, we all pay too much.
Making the means of collection seem more palatable does nothing to address the fact that our government pisses away more than the GDP of many countries every year. Until you plug the bucket, it does not matter what kind of pump you try to fill it with, it is still running out on the ground.
Instead of figuring out how to make money off of the illegals here, how about securing the border and giving them the boot?
That would cure a lot of the 'need' to try and tax them, which is the ticket to having them 'pay their fair share' which means that problem will never be fixed.
Do they get a don't tax me card to flash or do they get to try to pry it back from the gov?
Another great idea that will be ignored by the Politicians.
As I've shown several times before, on a $100 sale the income tax resulting would be something like $3.75 - and most of that would not be from embedded taxes but normal income tax. With the FairTax the tax realized would be $23 rather than $3.75.
In other words, I'm against the Fair Tax proposal. Government even taxes my TV set by setting in place new broadcast laws that force me to buy a new TV set, soon making my old set obsolete.
The requirements are in the bill as you know - and most illegals don't qualify.
But then, you already knew that.
I respectfully disagree.
As an example of why, consider the act of eliminating withholding income and payroll taxes - instead, make people pay monthly by check like most other bills.
Although changing the method of collection would not explicitly change the amount to be collected, it would put massive downward pressure on taxes and hence spending.
I say this to offer an alternative POV.
The method of collection has a LOT to do with spending.
That said, consider the decades long, unbounded expansion of government spending. It's all happened on our watch - and a repub house, senate, and executive hasn't helped one iota.
Just working on cutting spending hasn't helped - in fact IMO focusing on spending to the exclusion of anything else has been a major contributor to the continued unbounded growth of government.
How you collect the taxes does matter. Discounting an alternative for failing to cut spending simultaneously is a poor decision IMO.
There's lots of helpful information there on many, many different topics. Check the FAQs and Rebuttals for example.
And in the overall picture with reference to taxes, that means what???
In fact, with the prebate some of them may actually have a negative tax rate.
I see.
HR 25 (enter "hr 25") has as a provision that only discretionary spending on new items for retail consumption will be taxed.
Another way to think of it is that necessity-level spending is not taxed - similar to today's standard deduction/exemptions.
The way it works is that nobody, who is a legal resident with a valid SSN, pays tax on necessities. It is this aspect of the bill that ensures that illegals will pay tax at an effective rate higher than legal residents - and was the topic of the lead-in article.
This is accomplished by sending families a check/electronic tansfer each month, in advance in an amount that will cover the taxes they'll have to pay at the register. Some people call it a rebate, others call it a prebate.
No taxes. That was my point. Is he supposed to fill out 100 IRS forms? I wouldn't. Ever.
With the FairTax a good many of the illegals will do a self-deporting since it will cost them far more in taxes than they could ever dream about - thinking ole' Uncle Sugar was good for any scam they could dream up.
"The IRS last year added 2,200 enforcement employees."
Well they definitely have the IRS agents to enforce it....even though the borders are still open and illegals run rampant in our country.
Guess making sure they collect those taxes from American citizens is more important to them.
While possible, IMO it's unlikely for many people at all to consistently have a negative rate. Folks could deny the necessities of life, sure ... but would they?
Folks could grow their own food ... some will but not many.
There just aren't very many groups at all who fail to spend up to the poverty level.
You've seen this BLS DATA.
Neither - if they meet the qualifications stated in HR25, then can register with the SSA for the monthly prebate which is a refund of tax money up to the poverty level.
One can make the rules so complicated that one can rule out a lot of good posting.
Well now we all know what balrog looks like on the toilet. Would balrog like to favor us with his solution to the bastard income tax?
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