IRS Fails to Notify Americans Whose Social Security Numbers Are Used by Illegal Aliens - New American
Written by Warren Mass
A report issued on June 22 by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) stated that IRS processes are not sufficient to identify all employment identity theft victims. Many of these identify thefts result from illegal aliens stealing other taxpayers’ Social Security numbers.
However, the IRS said that federal law prevents it from notifying taxpayers whose identities were stolen, and that, furthermore, its job is to collect taxes, not enforce immigration laws.
A press release posted by the TIGTA’s director of communications explained that employment-related identity theft occurs when an identity thief uses another person’s identity to gain employment. The statement went on to explain:
Taxpayers may first realize they are victims when they receive an IRS notice of a discrepancy in the income they reported on their tax return. Each year, the IRS receives about 2.4 million tax returns filed using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) with reported wages.
A 2003 article in the New York Times explained the ITIN program, noting:
In 1996, the I.R.S. started issuing individual taxpayer identification numbers to illegal immigrants and foreigners earning money in this country. The agency has issued about six million identification numbers since the program began; it does not know how many went to illegal immigrants. In 2000, the agency collected $305 million in taxes from people using the identification numbers and refunded a sizable amount of that, $271 million.
Read more: IRS Fails to Notify Americans Whose Social Security Numbers Are Used by Illegal Aliens
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