IRS Documented 1.3M Identity Thefts by Illegal Aliens; Can’t Say It Referred Any for Prosecution

[Highmark]

This is just who they know.   No referrals for prosecution.  WTF!   

(CNSNews.com) - The Internal Revenue Service in 2011 through 2016 documented more than 1.3 million cases of identity theft perpetrated by illegal aliens whom the IRS had given Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN), which are only given to people who are ineligible to work in the United States or receive Social Security Numbers, according to information published by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration(TIGTA).

 

However, in response to inquiries from CNSNews.com, the IRS could not say if it had referred even one of these cases for criminal prosecution.

TIGTA, which is the inspector general responsible for overseeing the IRS, discovered another approximately 1.2 million cases in 2017 in which an illegal alien working in the United States had filed a tax return reporting wages that had been earned using a Social Security Number that belonged to someone else or was fabricated.

Yet the IRS also could not say whether it referred any of these cases for criminal prosecution.

(To see the questions CNSNews.com asked the IRS, TIGTA and the Justice Department about these cases and the agencies’ responses to those questions click here.)

'Shall Be Guilty of a Felony'

Using a stolen or fake Social Security Number is a felony.

“The Social Security Act,” TIGTA has noted, “provides that whoever, with the intent to deceive, falsely represents a number to be his or her SSN when, in fact, that number was not assigned to that person, shall be guilty of a felony and subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both. This includes using a false SSN to obtain employment.”

When processing individual tax returns, according to reports filed by TIGTA, the IRS ordinarily encounters two types of identity theft. One involves what TIGTA calls “refund fraud” and the other involves “employment-related fraud.”

 

In an August 10, 2016 report ("Processes Are Not Sufficient to Assist Victims of Employment-Related Identity Theft"), TIGTA published this graphic explaining the difference between "refund fraud" and "employment-related fraud:"

 

In cases of refund fraud, the “identity thief” uses another person’s Social Security Number and personal identification information “to file a fraudulent tax return, reporting fictitious wages and withholdings and obtains a tax refund.”

 

“Cases of employment identity theft identified by the Internal Revenue Service usually involve an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) filer who used the Social Security Number of another individual, i.e. victim, to gain employment,” TIGTA said in a report released in February.

“Employment identity theft can cause a significant burden to innocent taxpayers, including the incorrect computation of taxes based on income that does not belong to them,” said the report.

 

The approximately 1.3 million cases of employment-related identity theft documented and recorded by the IRS in 2011 through 2016, involved foreign nationals whom the IRS had given Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs).

 

So, too, did the approximately 1.2 million cases of illegal aliens using Social Security Numbers that belonged to someone else or had been fabricated that TIGTA discovered in 2017.

 

The numbers of these cases were cited in the TIGTA report released last month. It was entitled, “Most Employment Identity Theft Victims Have Not Been Notified That Their Identities Are Being Used by Others for Employment.”

[spin_dry]

Business owners are well aware of 10 or more Mexicans working off of one social security number. I was at a party three years ago where 4 local and semi local business owners were talking about this and laughing. Lots of jokes about that one.  I wonder how many are doing the same in the trump towers? 

[steve from amherst]

Not sure but I can tell you thousands are doing it in the construction industry

[spin_dry]

3 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

Not sure but I can tell you thousands are doing it in the construction industry

It’s probably even a larger issue in hospitality. 

[steve from amherst]

I'm sure it is