Report Reveals Misuse of Earned Income Tax Credit by Illegal Immigrants
Report: Abuse Rampant in Fraudulent Tax Returns
The Social Contract Press
A new report issues by the Social Contract reveals that abuse is rampant in the collection of fraudulent income tax refunds from the IRS, especially by illegal aliens.
The Earned Income Tax Credit and Illegal Immigration: A Study in Fraud, Abuse, and Liberal Activism, by financial analyst and economist Edwin Rubenstein, was released at a News Conference on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Press Release
Abuse Rampant in Fraudulent Tax Returns: New Report Demonstrates Misuse of Earned Income Tax Credit
April 9, 2009 - WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Abuse is rampant in the collection of fraudulent income tax refunds from the IRS, especially by illegal immigrants -- according to a new report to be released by the Social Contract Press on April 14.
The 51-page report, The Earned Income Tax Credit and Illegal Immigration: A Study in Fraud, Abuse, and Liberal Activism, by financial analyst and economist Edwin Rubenstein, will be released at a News Conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at the at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Speaking at the news conference to release the report will be: --Ed Rubenstein, Financial analyst and economist, who is President of ESR Research; formerly he was with the W. R. Grace Company, the Manhattan Institute and the Hudson Institute
--James R. Edwards, Jr., a principal at the MITA Group, a Washington-based government affairs firm, and a consultant and public policy expert, author, and former Lincoln Fellow of the Claremont Institute
--Wayne Lutton, Ph.D., historian, and author of The Immigration Time Bomb; and editor of The Social Contract Press, the publisher of the new report
"The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest anti-poverty program in the United States - and the most illegal-immigrant friendly," explains Edwin Rubenstein, author of the new report. "In 2007, more than 23 million households received more than $47 billion in the EITC payments."
But "between one-quarter to one-third of all EITC claims are 'improperly paid' according to the General Accounting Office. The EITC - like most of the tax code - operates on the honor system. This is very different from welfare and food stamps where applicants are interviewed and required to present proof of eligibility," Mr. Rubenstein said.
According to the report, much of the so-called "tax relief" goes to people who never paid a cent in taxes, and may have already defrauded the government of huge sums each year. "EITC scams are common, well-organized, and massive," Rubenstein writes in the report. EITC ranks second out of 57 government programs in fraudulent payments. Only Medicare reported a larger dollar amount.
Public policy expert, James R. Edwards, Jr., said that the report demonstrates that "EITC robs some to give to others. This is exactly the kind of so-called 'tax relief' Obama talked about during the campaign and in his sales job for his economic stimulus bill. Obama is redistributing wealth via the tax code and misleading the public by calling it tax cuts. Rather it's welfare by other means," Mr. Edwards said.
"EITC has become yet another means of depriving hard-working Americans of their own resources," Mr. Edwards said.
The EITC is the most accessible of the major entitlement programs and used by more people than food stamps and welfare (TANF)* combined. A related tax credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) is available to illegal immigrants even if they do not have a valid Social Security number.
The complete report, The Earned Income Tax Credit and Illegal Immigration: A Study in Fraud, Abuse, and Liberal Activism, is be available at the Social Contract Press website, www.thesocialcontract.com.
NEWS CONFERENCE DATE and TIME: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 1 p.m.
LOCATION: National Press Club (13th floor, Zenger Room, 529 14th St., N.W.) in Washington, D.C.
CONTACT/RESERVATIONS: For reservations, send contact information to (A sandwich buffet will be available at 12:30 p.m.)
*TANF = Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Read the complete report.