Posted by
Jimin Jersey on Thursday, November 22, 2007 9:49:57 AM
I apologize if this is long-winded.
These people are illegal aliens. They are not U.S. citizens; they are citizens of another country (usually Mexico) who are using the United States to obtain things unavailable in their homeland.
If they work here they make enough money to have a Federal tax filing requirement with the IRS. That means that they make an amount at least equal to the sum of the standard tax deduction for their filing status (single or married filing separately: $5,350 for 2007; head of household with at least one person living with them who provides less than half of their own support: $7,850; married filing a joint return: 10,700) and the amount of a personal exemption ($3,400 for 2007). This earning floor doesn't count social security benefits and may be less if the alien runs his/her own business.
Because they're not U.S. citizens, they are not eligible for social security numbers issued by the Social Security Administration. To allow them to satisfy their tax filing requirements, the IRS assigns each of them an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) upon receipt of a correctly completed Form W-7 with supporting documentation. The ITIN is a nine-digit number in the form of a social security number (xxx-xx-xxxx) whose first digit is a 9 and fourth and fifth digits are 70-88. The alien receives notification of his or her number by letter, but no longer with a card.
An ITIN is NOT valid for anything EXCEPT filing tax returns, the number being entered in the spaces where the form requires a social security number. It will not allow an illegal alien to obtain social security benefits or earned income tax credit (even if every other person claimed on the return has a valid social security number); or to work (many old ITIN cards bear the literal "NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT"; to circumvent this issue, the employer often invents a social security number on the Form W-2, or the alien purchases a stolen one on the black market). As a result, the potential for identity theft is terrifying.
Many illegal aliens with the old ITIN cards use them at the DMV to obtain licenses. On its website, the IRS has issued several press releases urging the Department of Motor Vehicles not to issue driver licenses to those people with ITINs, citing the reasons I've just outlined.
Thank you for allowing me to speak out.