I suggest that our current administration does not care in the least about Social Security being funded. They would prefer to do away with it entirely. The government in the past has borrowed from the funds to meet emergencies. But the current administration doesn't give the smallest damn about the citizens of the country.
Why do so many US employers knowingly employ the undocumented? First day on any job is filling out your W2, where there is that long list of possible documentation you need to provide to show your status........employers who hire the undocumented know EXACTLY what they are doing and why, and no one goes after them, I'm guessing because we wouldn't want to hurt a business........
Look into it. It takes years and a lot of paperwork. If you are fleeing criminal activity which many of them are, you really don't have time to work through it. And yes, our immigration laws need a complete reorganization.
Let's see. Staffing at the IRS is to be cut in half and a large swath of the remainder is ordered to track down tax paying undocumented immigrants? Called for by the guy who said in 2016 that he'd knows the tax system better then anyone because he's the best at abusing it? Nothing at all super suspicious here!
Ummm. I remember reading decades ago that mobsters actually DO pay their taxes and those returns could NOT be used against them. Possibly this has changed but I doubt it. We really do live in an upside down world.
Al Capone (where have we heard that name lately? 😊), John Gotti - certainly some infamous mobsters were convicted on tax offenses. Also "celebrities" like Pete Rose and Leona Helmsley. Over the years as money laundering got more sophisticated it may be easier to appear to be paying one's taxes... but mobsters may not report ALL their income, capiche?
Yes but several decades ago (so it may have been changed since but I don't think so) in a Time magazine article they explained how the IRS required criminals to pay their taxes and that those tax returns would NOT be used against him.(because self incriminations is Constitutionally considered bad?) This is why Dems, when they had control of the House, couldn't demand Trump's and others' tax returns. The IRS statutorially couldn't give them up. All the people you mentioned were caught before this policy was in place or they had bad (or not bad enough) tax lawyers which is why they were considered stupid for getting caught stiffing the IRS.
If they have a W2 the IRS already knows who and where they are. At those income levels, if they don't file, they most likely are giving up a refund. I suppose failing to file could at least avoid confirming their address or something. If the choice is between filing and getting deported and not filing and facing potential IRS penalties or criminal charges, I can see how it would be highly tempting to roll the dice on failure to file. As Trump/Musk/DOGE guts the IRS, there won't be any IRS employees left to enforce the tax laws anyway.
A person who is an employee on a payroll has taxes deducted from his paycheck. If all his income is reported on a W2, not filing a tax return isn't going to deprive the Treasury of his tax payments. Treasury already has the money.
Lauren - Welcome to this fan club! We can learn more about details of immigration issues in any ONE of Adrian's articles than in a month of NYT or WaPo!
Sue - strange, huh? During campaign he said they would be easy to round up cuz cops know where the bad guys are. Same as he lied last night about the Social Security Numident file, going on & on about birthdates and ages, suggesting everyone who's ever been assigned an SS number is currently receiving checks in some vague fraud/waste/abuse. Same as immigration: if you've got the names & SS numbers of phony payments, why aren't you arresting anybody? DOJ, FBI - he's got all the levers of power if he actually had a shred of evidence. But no one seems to call him on that
Trump wants to use the IRS information to attack his enemies (everyone that doesn’t worship him). Wait? So many IRS staff have been fired that he would be able to use it.
Hey if Trump guts Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, why should ANY of us pay our taxes? Like, what are we 'getting' in exchange for our tax payments? Handouts to billionaires? I would like the blue state governors to give blue state taxpayers the option to redirect our federal tax payments to our state governments, to be held in escrow until the federal government keeps its commitments to us.
Not merely unintended consequences, but unconsidered consequences. The thoughtlessness and hamfistedness at work are beyond reason. So much of what the axewielding 20 something tech fools do is just wrong-headed. I take pride in having thought long ago that, generally, disruption, for good or ill, was not particularly well thought out. Sloppiness on parade. Shoot from the hip. . . Rush to judgement. . .
After the collapse of the American economy in 1929 it took about three years for the full impact of that collapse to be felt throughout the country. Expect a similar delay in consequences for the tariffs and other measures undertaken by the current administration. It may be that citizenship will become less desirable going forward. That seems to be the strategy employed by the Republicrats.
Depressing but incredible reporting—so much detail most Americans probably do not realize.
What criminal pays their taxes? Here's one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G56VgsLfKY4
lol
I suggest that our current administration does not care in the least about Social Security being funded. They would prefer to do away with it entirely. The government in the past has borrowed from the funds to meet emergencies. But the current administration doesn't give the smallest damn about the citizens of the country.
It's not just when you file your tax return that the government has your information, but your taxes paid are already on record.
How about we instead use the IRS to track down the rich who have already stopped paying their taxes?
Why didn't the undocumented/illegal immigrants follow the established process to be legal?
Why do so many US employers knowingly employ the undocumented? First day on any job is filling out your W2, where there is that long list of possible documentation you need to provide to show your status........employers who hire the undocumented know EXACTLY what they are doing and why, and no one goes after them, I'm guessing because we wouldn't want to hurt a business........
Look into it. It takes years and a lot of paperwork. If you are fleeing criminal activity which many of them are, you really don't have time to work through it. And yes, our immigration laws need a complete reorganization.
Let's see. Staffing at the IRS is to be cut in half and a large swath of the remainder is ordered to track down tax paying undocumented immigrants? Called for by the guy who said in 2016 that he'd knows the tax system better then anyone because he's the best at abusing it? Nothing at all super suspicious here!
Ummm. I remember reading decades ago that mobsters actually DO pay their taxes and those returns could NOT be used against them. Possibly this has changed but I doubt it. We really do live in an upside down world.
Al Capone (where have we heard that name lately? 😊), John Gotti - certainly some infamous mobsters were convicted on tax offenses. Also "celebrities" like Pete Rose and Leona Helmsley. Over the years as money laundering got more sophisticated it may be easier to appear to be paying one's taxes... but mobsters may not report ALL their income, capiche?
Yes but several decades ago (so it may have been changed since but I don't think so) in a Time magazine article they explained how the IRS required criminals to pay their taxes and that those tax returns would NOT be used against him.(because self incriminations is Constitutionally considered bad?) This is why Dems, when they had control of the House, couldn't demand Trump's and others' tax returns. The IRS statutorially couldn't give them up. All the people you mentioned were caught before this policy was in place or they had bad (or not bad enough) tax lawyers which is why they were considered stupid for getting caught stiffing the IRS.
If they have a W2 the IRS already knows who and where they are. At those income levels, if they don't file, they most likely are giving up a refund. I suppose failing to file could at least avoid confirming their address or something. If the choice is between filing and getting deported and not filing and facing potential IRS penalties or criminal charges, I can see how it would be highly tempting to roll the dice on failure to file. As Trump/Musk/DOGE guts the IRS, there won't be any IRS employees left to enforce the tax laws anyway.
A person who is an employee on a payroll has taxes deducted from his paycheck. If all his income is reported on a W2, not filing a tax return isn't going to deprive the Treasury of his tax payments. Treasury already has the money.
As a former employer I would say your right, they don’t (rich folk) want to put that matching amount in to the SSA.
Terrific piece. I was on the fence about a paid subscription, and this tipped the balance. Keep up the great work.
Lauren - Welcome to this fan club! We can learn more about details of immigration issues in any ONE of Adrian's articles than in a month of NYT or WaPo!
The reason Trump wants to do this is because he is behind his number count of evicting migrants.
Sue - strange, huh? During campaign he said they would be easy to round up cuz cops know where the bad guys are. Same as he lied last night about the Social Security Numident file, going on & on about birthdates and ages, suggesting everyone who's ever been assigned an SS number is currently receiving checks in some vague fraud/waste/abuse. Same as immigration: if you've got the names & SS numbers of phony payments, why aren't you arresting anybody? DOJ, FBI - he's got all the levers of power if he actually had a shred of evidence. But no one seems to call him on that
Trump wants to use the IRS information to attack his enemies (everyone that doesn’t worship him). Wait? So many IRS staff have been fired that he would be able to use it.
Hey if Trump guts Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, why should ANY of us pay our taxes? Like, what are we 'getting' in exchange for our tax payments? Handouts to billionaires? I would like the blue state governors to give blue state taxpayers the option to redirect our federal tax payments to our state governments, to be held in escrow until the federal government keeps its commitments to us.
Wish I could redirect may tax payments to Ukraine...
Same, Tom. I’ll pay them, but please hold them in escrow until such time we have a functioning govt.
Not merely unintended consequences, but unconsidered consequences. The thoughtlessness and hamfistedness at work are beyond reason. So much of what the axewielding 20 something tech fools do is just wrong-headed. I take pride in having thought long ago that, generally, disruption, for good or ill, was not particularly well thought out. Sloppiness on parade. Shoot from the hip. . . Rush to judgement. . .
gary - their poor aim may actually be just a wee bit lower and toward the middle...
After the collapse of the American economy in 1929 it took about three years for the full impact of that collapse to be felt throughout the country. Expect a similar delay in consequences for the tariffs and other measures undertaken by the current administration. It may be that citizenship will become less desirable going forward. That seems to be the strategy employed by the Republicrats.
Good point that is when Dems to pull it out of the ditch again.