IRS sends 46 million in tax refunds to 1 Atlanta address

[HFO3]

IRS Sent $46,378,040 in Refunds to 23,994 ?Unauthorized? Aliens at 1 Atlanta Address




(AP Photo)


(CNSNews.com) - The Internal Revenue Service sent 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 to ?unauthorized? alien workers who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).


That was not the only Atlanta address theoretically occupied by thousands of ?unauthorized? alien workers receiving millions in federal tax refunds in 2011. In fact, according to a TIGTA audit report published last year, four of the top ten addresses to which the IRS sent thousands of tax refunds to ?unauthorized? aliens were in Atlanta.


The IRS sent 11,284 refunds worth a combined $2,164,976 to unauthorized alien workers at a second Atlanta address; 3,608 worth $2,691,448 to a third; and 2,386 worth $1,232,943 to a fourth.


Other locations on the IG?s Top Ten list for singular addresses that were theoretically used simultaneously by thousands of unauthorized alien workers, included an address in Oxnard, Calif, where the IRS sent 2,507 refunds worth $10,395,874; an address in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the IRS sent 2,408 refunds worth $7,284,212; an address in Phoenix, Ariz., where the IRS sent 2,047 refunds worth $5,558,608; an address in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where the IRS sent 1,972 refunds worth $2,256,302; an address in San Jose, Calif., where the IRS sent 1,942 refunds worth $5,091,027; and an address in Arvin, Calif., where the IRS sent 1,846 refunds worth $3,298,877.


Since 1996, the IRS has issued what it calls Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to two classes of persons: 1) non-resident aliens who have a tax liability in the United States, and 2) aliens living in the United States who are ?not authorized to work in the United States.?


The IRS has long known it was giving these numbers to illegal aliens, and thus facilitating their ability to work illegally in the United States. For example, the Treasury Inspector General?s Semiannual Report to Congress published on Oct. 29, 1999?nearly fourteen years ago?specifically drew attention to this problem.


?The IRS issues Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to undocumented aliens to improve nonresident alien compliance with tax laws. This IRS practice seems counter-productive to the Immigration and Naturalization Service?s (INS) mission to identify undocumented aliens and prevent unlawful alien entry,? TIGTA warned in that long-ago report.


The inspector general?s 2012 audit report on the IRS?s handling of ITINs was spurred by two IRS employees who went to member of Congress "alleging that IRS management was requiring employees to assign Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) even when the applications were fraudulent.?


In an August 2012 press release accompanying the audit report, TIGTA said the report ?validated? the complaints of the IRS employees.


?TIGTA?s audit found that IRS management has not established adequate internal controls to detect and prevent the assignment of an ITIN to individuals submitting questionable applications,? said Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George. ?Even more troubling, TIGTA found an environment which discourages employees from detecting fraudulent applications.?


In addition to the 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 that the IRS sent to a single address in Atlanta, the IG also discovered that the IRS had assigned 15,796 ITINs to unauthorized aliens who presumably resided at a single Atlanta address.


The IRS, according to TIGTA, also assigned ITINs to 15,028 unauthorized aliens presumably living at a single address in Dallas, Texas, and 10,356 to unauthorized aliens presumably living at a single address in Atlantic City, N.J.


Perhaps the most remarkable act of the IRS was this: It assigned 6,411 ITINs to unauthorized aliens presumably using a single address in Morganton, North Carolina. According to the 2010 Census, there were only 16,681 people in Morganton. So, for the IRS to have been correct in issuing 6,411 ITINS to unauthorized aliens at a single address Morganton it would have meant that 38 percent of the town?s total population were unauthorized alien workers using a single address.


TIGTA said there were 154 addresses around the country that appeared on 1,000 or more ITIN applications made to the IRS.


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[dogsoldier]

If there is a way to scam for money, people will find a way. I just wonder how much went back into an IRS agents or agents pockets or "donated" to the Obama retirement fund.

 

[dieseljimmy]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

 

[dave 236]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

Im certain one did. What is frightening is what that says!

 

[ROID]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

Exactly.

 

[DOMS]

Aliens? Can't they just say, "wetbacks?"

 

[s2h]

i actually believe 2,500 illegal alliens can live in one house..be a little tight but it can be worked out..that bathroom must be worse then all the Love's truck stops put together..

 

[heckler7]

Aliens? Can't they just say, "wetbacks?"

my guess is they weren't Mexicans, this level of fraud requires some education, if they said it was stolen bicycles or car stereos then yes

 

[DOMS]

my guess is they weren't Mexicans, this level of fraud requires some education, if they said it was stolen bicycles or car stereos then yes

Nah, I've seen it before. They find one person's social security info to use. Then they share it. It happens a lot. Not quite to this extent usually, but it happens.

 

[Zaphod]

Someone in charge at the IRS ought to be drawn and quartered for this not being caught until long after the fact.

 

[ctr10]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

Jimmy said it all. they will bust our balls, but won't catch something like this, doesn't their software kick a red flag on multiple refunds to the same address

 

[LAM]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

the gf's old firm keeps paying people that haven't worked there in months along with 401K contributions and it's a nationwide company. i'm pretty sure those types of things are more common with very large bureaucracy's because of the extent of the division of labor, people only know about there small piece of the puzzle.

 

[Zaphod]

How hard is it to add a little subroutine to the IRS computers to flag something if there is more than, say ten, returns going to a single address? Or if a single SSN is used more than once a year for filing?

 

[DOMS]

How hard is it to add a little subroutine to the IRS computers to flag something if there is more than, say ten, returns going to a single address? Or if a single SSN is used more than once a year for filing?

Targeting specific groups for unwarranted audits is more important, I guess.

 

[dogsoldier]

The college I work for handles 70,000 FTE's between full time, part time, non-traditional and no-credit students. We catch problems all the time. It ain't that hard. This was intentional or the IRS needs to hire some high school programmers to fix their shit.

 

[LAM]

How hard is it to add a little subroutine to the IRS computers to flag something if there is more than, say ten, returns going to a single address? Or if a single SSN is used more than once a year for filing?

basic database design and normalization should just about eliminate anything like that from occurred and a sub-routine would drop that down to never.

but then again we are talking about a government that has all of it's most critical systems connected to the Internet.

 

[dieseljimmy]

There's no way this was not noticed. How did they catch my accountants mistake for 400 bones and not this. Somebody makes money or power by allowing this "mistake".

 

[Ichigo]

It seems to me someone in the IRS is getting some serious kickbacks.

 

[FUZO]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

Fuktwat OBAMA thats who

 

[blergs.]

How in the hell does a computer not catch that anomaly.

That was my thought! over 10 pins from same address = investigation! WTF man...

 

[HFO3]

PHOENIX -- Last year, undocumented workers received over $4 billion in benefits from the United States government.
It's because of the dependents they're claiming on their tax returns. Even though they may be here illegally and aren't supposed to have a Social Security number, the Internal Revenue Service still requires them to pay taxes and gives aliens a special identification number to file a return.
Under the additional child tax credit, they get an extra $1,000 dollars for every child they claim as a dependent.
Valley immigrant-rights attorney Daniel Ortega said this is news to him.
"Then again, I don't do any tax-preparation work and I'm not involved in any tax law," he said.
Some people are abusing the loophole. WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, for example, found four illegal immigrants in one mobile home who claimed 20 dependents. They received nearly $30,000 from the IRS, but only one child was living in the home.
Ortega said those who break the law should be prosecuted or deported.
"Anyone of any background should not commit fraud on their taxes," he said.
"If that is the case and that is true, then they should be dealt with -- whether they're rich or poor, undocumented or not -- in the same fashion as anybody else."

 

[HFO3]

[Collecting billions in a loophole: Fraudulent tax refunds yield a bonanza for illegal immigrants[/B][/COLOR]
The Washington Times, Edwin S. Rubenstein

As federal services from air-traffic control to White House tours are ratcheted down thanks to the budget sequestration, millions of illegal aliens are now eagerly await billions in illegitimate Treasury payments, courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Two programs, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) provide cash payments to low-income parents who pay no income tax and fail to have a valid Social Security number.
The IRS makes it easy. The tax collection agency routinely issues an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to individuals who file income-tax returns but are not eligible to work in the United States. A few go to foreign investors who pay federal income taxes on their U.S. holdings. They are not the problem.
Most ITINs are issued to illegal immigrants living in the country. Many do not work. Many more do not even have children. They file federal income-tax returns often with the help of tax-filing services solely to receive a child tax-credit refund.
The IRS knowingly allows illegal aliens who claim children to get Earned Income Tax Credit cash payments of up to $5,891 per household. This is one reason why these cash payments are expected to exceed $52 billion in fiscal year 2012 alone. The General Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that roughly a quarter of all Earned Income Tax Credit payments are issued improperly.
Compounding the problem is the Additional Child Tax Credit, which was added to the older Child Tax Credit program that became law in 1997. The Child Tax Credit reduces the tax low-income families pay by $1,000 for each child under 17. If the tax filer claims five children for a credit of $5,000 but owes only $2,000 in taxes, under the Additional Child Tax Credit the IRS sends the filer a check for the difference, or $3,000.
The federal tax agency makes no effort to verify the existence of children or the eligibility of the tax-credit recipients to work in the United States. Indeed, IRS managers reportedly encourage their staff to ignore questionable applications and blatant fraud for the sake of fast-tracking Individual Taxpayer Identification Number approvals.
A 2011 Treasury Department study found the IRS paid illegal immigrants $4.2 billion in Additional Child Tax Credit refunds in 2010, representing nearly one-fifth of all ACTC refunds paid that year.
These cash payments are one more incentive for illegal immigrants to enter, reside and work in the United States. That is the last thing we need in an economy in which 10 million U.S. citizens and more than 1 million legal immigrants are looking for work.
The scandal prompted at least one congressman to act. Last year, Rep. Sam Johnson, Texas Republican, introduced the ITIN Reform Act. The legislation would require people claiming Additional Child Tax Credit refunds on tax returns filed without a Social Security number to verify their citizenship status in person at anIRS office. Currently, the IRS sends these refunds automatically, with no questions asked.
Thus far, the IRS has refused to implement reforms that could stop massive ACTC fraud by illegal immigrants. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, blocked an effort to bring the Child Tax Credit Integrity Preservation Act (S. 577) to the floor, ensuring that illegal immigrants can continue to get billions in cash payments for children who may not even exist.
Eliminating these illegitimate payments could save at least $4.2 billion to fund other government activities.
This is a tiny fraction of total federal spending, but if properly used, it could make a big difference. Shifting this amount from Additional Child Tax Credit fraud to aggressively pursuing higher value IRS targets such as high-income and corporate tax cheats could put a real dent in the ?tax gap? the difference between what the government collects each year and what it is owed. Right now, that gap is close to $400 billion, no small thing when the government is projected to incur an $850 billion deficit this year.
At the very least, we could reopen the White House to public tours and keep more air-traffic controllers on the job with the money. We know that unless Congress pulls the plug on the Additional Child Tax Credit, theIRS will continue sending taxpayer funds to millions of lawbreakers who have no legal right to be in the United States.

 

[maniclion]

Yet when I was in the Navy, they accidentally paid me twice for hazardous duty and were quick to dock my next pay check to reflect that....

 

[LAM]

Fuktwat OBAMA thats who

more like all the high level programmers either go work in finance or for places like Google. why settle for a measly $70K gov job when you can make an easy $250 elsewhere.

the IRS was certainly perfect before 2009 but let me guess you weren't paying attention to it before then...