美国国家公共电台 NPR Tax Filings Seen Dipping Amid Trump Crackdown On Illegal Immigration

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Millions of taxpayers² are rushing to complete their federal and state filings before the tax deadline tomorrow. And among them are several million people in this country illegally. But as NPR's Richard Gonzales reports, tax preparers are seeing signs that fewer immigrants may be filing this year than in years past.

RICHARD GONZALES, BYLINE³: There's a common belief that immigrants in this country without authorization⁴ don't file or pay taxes. But the IRS says that in 2015, nearly 4 and a half million people across the country who don't have Social Security numbers filed federal tax returns. And many are in this country illegally.

CLARISSA JOHNSON: Unity⁵ Council, how can I help you?

GONZALES: The Unity Council is an East Oakland community-based organization offering free tax preparation for low-income people. On a recent afternoon, about a dozen clients and IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers are hunched⁶ over rows of aging computers.

Clarissa Johnson directs this clinic.

JOHNSON: We'll help everyone. We don't ask them about their immigration status. That is between them and the tax preparer.

GONZALES: Many of these people use individual taxpayer¹ identification numbers, or ITINs. Some ITIN holders⁷ are foreign investors⁸ or students. But it's generally understood that most tax filers using an ITIN are in this country illegally, like 36-year-old Axel, who asked that we not use his last name because of his immigration status. He came to the United States from Guatemala several years ago. And he says he has no hesitation⁹ about filing his tax returns.

AXEL: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALES: "First, because it's my responsibility," he says, "and I want to do things the correct way."

Axel says a few years ago, a shady tax preparer made mistakes on his return, and he wound up getting fined several thousand dollars.

AXEL: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALES: "I don't like to create problems for myself," he says.

There's an obvious incentive¹⁰ to file - a chance to get a refund¹¹. The Unity Council's Clarissa Johnson says another reason is, if a person winds up in immigration court, a record of having filed taxes is considered evidence of good moral character.

JOHNSON: And especially if they're working toward their citizenship¹², it's something that can show that they are here for the long haul.

GONZALES: According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an office of the IRS, ITIN filers last year paid almost $24 billion in federal taxes.

Yet as the Trump¹³ administration cracks down on illegal immigration, there's some anecdotal evidence that fewer immigrants using ITINs are choosing to file their taxes this year.

Max Moy-Borgen runs the tax program at the Mission Economic Development Agency in San Francisco. It's one of the largest free tax preparation programs in the country.

MAX MOY-BORGEN: Many of our clients are telling us that in years past, they felt more hope and more of ability to have a pathway towards citizenship. And lately, there's a lot less hope.

GONZALES: Overall, tax service providers in the San Francisco Bay Area say there's about a 20 percent decline in the number of people filing with ITINs.

There are similar reports from service providers in other areas of the country, says Francine Lipman. She teaches tax law at the University of Nevada.

FRANCINE LIPMAN: Sending in a tax return with your current address and information is very unnerving to a population that wants to comply with the law and is actually leaving significant refunds¹⁴ on the table by not filing tax returns.

GONZALES: Still, the IRS is barred from sharing its information with other government agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, except under limited circumstances. But Lipman says, many ITIN filers have to decide whether to trust that firewall. Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLOEX'S "SANDALEK")

1 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

2 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。

7 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

12 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

14 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句