WHO NEEDS AMNESTY? Millions of Illegal Aliens Ripping Taxpayers Off for $20 Billion a Year in "Tax Credits"

As the White House shuts down tours and air traffic control towers go dark thanks to the budget sequester, millions of illegal aliens will collect as much as $20 billion in cash from the taxpayers thanks to a widespread scam facilitated by the Obama administration. Ed Rubenstein, president of ESR Research and former chief economist for the Grace Commission on Waste in Government, has issued a new report entitled Defrauding the American Taxpayer: The Earned Income and Additional Child Tax Credits [PDF].

Rubenstein states that, "the IRS knowingly allows illegal aliens claiming children to get Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) cash payments of up to $5,891." Furthermore, “the General Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that 23 percent to 28 percent of EITC payments that totaled $55.7 billion in 2011 are issued improperly every year. The IRS facilitates this tax rebate fraud by issuing individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) to people who lack valid Social Security numbers because they are not authorized to work in the U.S., and encourages them to file for tax credits.” A 2010 government audit found that 72 percent of tax returns filed by people using ITINs, rather than Social Security numbers, claimed the child tax credit.


That's not all, according to Rubenstein. He says that “the Child Tax Credit (CTC) program pays as much as $1,000 per child to families with children and incomes as low as $3,000. The IRS sends checks to anyone claiming the benefit, whether they have Social Security numbers or not. When a tax filer’s Child Tax Credit payment exceeds their tax liability, the IRS sends the filer an Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) refund check for the difference. Individuals can get an ACTC refund checks even if they had no income tax withheld or paid.”


Rubenstein asserts that the IRS has refused to stop the massive ACTC fraud by illegal aliens, which the Treasury Department says costs taxpayers $4.2 billion in 2010.

Fraudulent claims by illegal aliens cost taxpayers about $20 billion through abuse of the EITC (more than $15 billion by some estimates) and the ACTC (more than $4 billion). Worse still, many of the illegal aliens claiming the credit aren't even in the United States -- and many others may not exist at all.

Read the whole thing [PDF] -- and pass it on.

And every time Democrats whine and cry about higher taxes, tell them you're waiting for the IRS to stop the Illegal Alien Tax Credit scam that costs us $20 billion a year.