[ExI] Impressive book: Farewell to Alms

[Gary Miller]

Spike said : 

>>Lee I stand in awe of how hard the Mexicans work.  This is an artifact
caused by the tax structure.  Labor is taxed heavily in Mexico, whereas
illegal Mexicans in the US pay no tax at all.  Under those conditions anyone
would work their asses off abroad, then go home for a nice siesta. >>

Spike this is a misconception.  Many illegal aliens fill out their W2
information when they start jobs using invalid or other peoples social
security numbers.  Common sense would say give employers a system to
validate that number and name prior to letting the person start work but no
such system or legal requirement exists.

This means that the illegals are paying the same Federal income tax, state
income tax and local income taxes as any other AMerican citizen, but it is
difficult or impossible for them and illegal in some states such as Kansas
and Missouri to receive tax refunds if the information that they filled out
on their W2 is not correct. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272061,00.html


"The Social Security Administration's (SSA) chief actuary estimates that
three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay Social Security tax, an
estimate that makes undocumented workers responsible for about 1.5% of total
wages reported to the SSA."

http://www.immigrationforum.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=724

These workers will not be qualified to ever collect from social security or
SSI under the current rules.  So they are helping to prop up the retirement
and disability programs for the rest of us.  And they may be paying more in
taxes since in most cases they do not risk applying for refunds.


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