XPost: az.general, az.politics   
   From: michelle@michelle.org   
      
   Even Workers   
   In U.S. Illegally   
   Pay Tax Man   
   Booming Los Angeles Business Caters   
   To Immigrants Who Need Help Filing   
   By MIRIAM JORDAN   
   April 4, 2007; Page B1   
      
   LOS ANGELES -- On a recent Sunday afternoon, construction workers, car   
   washers, truck drivers and students crowded into Petra Castillo's   
   one-room tax-preparation office in this city's South Central   
   neighborhood. Most of those inside what was once the home of El Jefe   
   Tacos shared something besides their need to beat this year's April 17   
   filing deadline: They are illegal immigrants.   
      
      
   Petra Business Services   
   "They are undocumented, but they want to do everything right," says Mrs.   
   Castillo, 50 years old, who has a no-nonsense demeanor as she juggles   
   phone calls and customers, mainly speaking in Spanish.   
      
   Politicians and activists campaigning for a crackdown on illegal   
   immigration frequently complain that the nation's estimated 12 million   
   undocumented residents violate U.S. law by not paying taxes, as well as   
   by being in the U.S. without permission. But Mrs. Castillo's booming   
   business shows how some of the workers who are here in defiance of one   
   arm of the U.S. government -- the Department of Homeland Security -- are   
   filing federal tax returns with the aggressive encouragement of another   
   -- the Internal Revenue Service.   
      
   "If someone is working without authorization in this country, he or she   
   is not absolved of tax liability," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, a   
   former immigration official, said in testimony before Congress last   
   year. Last week, speaking to the National Press Club, he added, "We want   
   your money whether you are here legally or not and whether you earned it   
   legally or not."   
      
      
   Undocumented workers wait inside the former taco stall, where Petra   
   Business Services helps them file their tax returns.   
   In 1996, the IRS created the individual taxpayer identification number,   
   or ITIN, a nine-digit number that starts with "9," for taxpayers who   
   didn't qualify for a Social Security number. Since then, the agency has   
   issued about 11 million of them, and by 2003, the latest year with   
   available figures, the number of tax returns using them had risen to   
   nearly one million. The government doesn't know how many of those   
   taxpayers were undocumented immigrants. Foreign nationals with   
   tax-reporting requirements in the U.S. can also get an ITIN. But most of   
   the people who use the number are believed to be in the U.S. illegally.   
   All told, between 1996 and 2003, the income-tax liability for ITIN   
   filers totaled almost $50 billion.   
      
   As part of its outreach effort, the IRS has been helping taxpayers apply   
   for ITINs through partnerships with community groups. Last week, the   
   Center for Economic Progress, a nonprofit group in Chicago, hosted its   
   fourth ITIN event of the tax season at a church on the city's South   
   Side, helping individuals apply for the number and file in one sitting.   
      
   Critics say the government is legitimizing the presence of illegal   
   immigrants by encouraging them to file tax returns. "A major organ of   
   the U.S. government is saying it's OK to be illegal as long as you send   
   in your return," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center   
   for Immigration Studies, which supports tighter immigration controls.   
      
   The decision to report wages and withheld taxes can be a hard one for   
   illegal immigrants, though, because they normally use an invalid Social   
   Security number to obtain work. Mrs. Castillo must attach the W-2, often   
   with a fake Social Security number, to the tax return, along with the   
   ITIN. The IRS instructs tax preparers to fill in Social Security numbers   
   as they are shown on the W-2 form, even if the numbers are invalid.   
      
   Mrs. Castillo assures her customers that the IRS doesn't share   
   information with Homeland Security. The tax code prevents disclosure of   
   taxpayer information except in limited circumstances. In his National   
   Press Club speech, Mr. Everson said: "There is no bleeding over of   
   information from the IRS to the Department of Homeland Security at this   
   stage. The systems are independent."   
      
   Most illegal immigrants who visit Petra Business Services, as Mrs.   
   Castillo's business is called, say they hope that filing a tax return   
   will eventually boost their chances of securing a green card. A   
   bipartisan immigration bill introduced in Congress last month requires   
   proof of "good moral character" in order for illegal residents to   
   qualify for permanent U.S. residency. The last immigration amnesty, in   
   1986, required them to prove they had lived and worked in the U.S. for   
   several years.   
      
   The possibility of getting a refund is another motivation: Because   
   undocumented workers normally use a fake Social Security number to work,   
   their Social Security and Medicare contributions won't do them any good.   
   Filing a tax return with an ITIN gives them a shot at getting some   
   withheld money back.   
      
      
   Petra Castillo at her South Central Los Angeles office.   
   "The rules of this country say that everyone must file taxes," says   
   Pablo Espinoza, a welder. "I am complying with the rules." The Mexican   
   immigrant and his wife, Martha, who works in a chicken-processing plant,   
   earned about $42,000 last year. Mr. Espinoza acknowledges that he and   
   his wife are here illegally. But in every other respect, he says, they   
   are law-abiding residents. "We work hard. We have a clean record. We   
   file our taxes," he says.   
      
   Mrs. Castillo jots down the couple's ITIN numbers on their 1040 form.   
   Last year, $1,464.88 in Social Security and $342.60 in Medicare were   
   deducted from Mr. Espinoza's wages. His wife paid several hundred   
   dollars in Social Security and Medicare, too. In addition, $3,508 in   
   federal taxes was withheld from their combined salaries. Mrs. Castillo   
   figures they will get a $3,462 refund from the IRS, putting their total   
   federal tax bill at $46.   
      
   Berenice Reyes, a 24-year-old student, has brought W-2 forms for two   
   years of work at a sandwich shop. She says she wants to pay her taxes to   
   prove she could be a good citizen. Since it's her first time filing   
   taxes, Mrs. Castillo helps her fill out a W-7 ITIN application, which   
   states that "getting an ITIN does not change your immigration status or   
   your right to work in the U.S."   
      
   The irony of filing a tax return isn't lost on Ms. Reyes, who works to   
   pay her college tuition and aspires to teach high school in South   
   Central. "I'm trying to go by the law," she says. "But according to   
   other laws, I shouldn't even be in this country."   
      
      
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