The so-called "Gang of 8" were eager to assure the American public that their immigration reform proposals were not Amnesty, even though they were offering a path of citizenship to those in the country illegally. One of their main points to guarantee that, was that illegals would be forced to pay back taxes on the money they earned while in the country illegally.
The question of whether lawmakers should force immigrants to ante up what they owe Uncle Sam on any money they were paid off the books might seem easy at first.
After all, it was one of the Gang of Eight’s main talking points when it unveiled the immigration blueprint in January. Sponsors vowed that their proposal would include a back tax requirement to ward off critics’ claims that their bill would be “amnesty.” Citizenship would come with a price, they said.
Here is the kicker and the idiocy of the Politico article and one anti-back tax argument, which isn't mentioned until page three.
A number of tax experts agree that back taxes won’t be a windfall for the Treasury since more than half of illegal immigrants already pay taxes, many using a stolen Social Security number taken for their jobs.Stealing Social Security numbers is identity theft and fraud, and is, in and of itself, a crime.
From the Department of Justice website:
The Department of Justice prosecutes cases of identity theft and fraud under a variety of federal statutes. In the fall of 1998, for example, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act . This legislation created a new offense of identity theft, which prohibits "knowingly transfer[ring] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law."
18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense.
Schemes to commit identity theft or fraud may also involve violations of other statutes such as identification fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1028), credit card fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1029), computer fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1030), mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), or financial institution fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344). Each of these federal offenses are felonies that carry substantial penalties in some cases, as high as 30 years' imprisonment, fines, and criminal forfeiture.
Federal prosecutors work with federal investigative agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service to prosecute identity theft and fraud cases.
Think about that for a minute.
The "Gang of 8" and others are busy discussing whether there should be an enforceable mechanism to make sure that illegals which would be covered in their amnesty bill would pay back taxes, completely ignoring that by U.S. law, more than half of those illegal immigrants should be in jail for identity theft and fraud.
The Senate Judiciary Committee already knocked down one attempt to add the paying of back taxes into the immigration reform proposal.
The Senate Judiciary Committee in a voice vote knocked down a similar proposal by Mike Lee (R-Utah) to fortify the back tax part of the bill. And none of the four of the Gang of Eight senators sitting on that panel — including Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Lindsey Graham (R- S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) — came to the amendment’s defense.
Schumer, who called the amendment too “rigid,” said the broad concept of having applicants pay back taxes looks appealing, but “the difficulty is when you get from below the 10,000-foot concept to the reality.”
“Joe Wilson Illegal Immigrant comes forward. They say, ‘You got to pay your back taxes.’ He says, ‘I don’t know what my back taxes are. I’ve worked for 12 years for these eight companies; I don’t really realize how much I made. Four of the companies paid me in cash.’ What do we do?” Schumer asked during the hearing.
Schumer also argued that a strong back tax requirement could deter immigrants from coming out of the shadows but said that the group would try to come up with some sort of compromise on the floor.What is in the bill now requires illegal immigrants to come forward voluntarily to to the IRS.
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican tax writer on the Senate Finance Committee, will be offering a proposal that actually has some teeth to it, which won't satisfy those against amnesty, but he asserts that without an enforceable provision to guarantee those back taxes get paid, the whole immigration reform deal doesn't stand a chance in the Senate.
“They ought to pay their taxes,” the top Republican tax writer on the Senate Finance Committee told POLITICO. “If they don’t put amendments like that in there, this thing doesn’t have a chance.”
Hatch will offer an amendment on the Senate floor to require immigrants to show they have paid income and employment taxes over the years, placing the burden of proof on the applicant rather than the IRS, where it currently lies.
So, Americans finally see there is, indeed, a tax that Democrats don't like--- back taxing illegal immigrants.
More importantly, the whole "gang of 8" and many other members of Congress, not only want to give illegals amnesty after breaking our laws and coming or staying in the U.S. illegally, they also want to offer more than half of them amnesty for identity theft and fraud.
Are Americans and immigrants in the country legally offered amnesty for breaking the nation's laws?