Sherena Palmer (pictured), an 18-year-old housekeeper who just moved to New Haven from Jamaica, waited in line at the public library to get free help filing her first U.S. tax form. In a bold move, the city’s low-income tax assistance program is reaching out not only to legal residents like Palmer, but to undocumented immigrants, too.
The city announced Monday that the city-backed Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), which gives free tax filing help to low- and moderate-income people, will expand its services to include undocumented workers who do not have social security numbers.
Internal Revenue Services, which oversee the VITA program, canceled a scheduled appearance at the press conference in the basement of the city library’s main branch, where Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. made the announcement.
But DeStefano wanted the news in the open: VITA has expanded so that people who don’t have a social security card or U.S. citizenship can get free help filing their taxes, including a possible tax refund.
The city’s popular tax assistance program, formed by this public-private coalition, helped 773 New Haven residents claim $1.8 million in refunds and tax credits last year, and hopes to expand its volunteer base to serve 1,000 this year, according to City Hall.
VITA added another feature: Low-income people can sign up for an IDA (individual development account), where each dollar they save will by matched by two dollars from Empower New Haven.
Click on the play arrow to watch highlights of the press conference videotaped by Empower New Haven’s Tom Ficklin.
The Aspiring Citizen Tax
Why would undocumented immigrants volunteer to file taxes, especially when they don’t qualify for social security benefits or the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax break for the working poor?
Many already pay taxes and might hope for a tax refund.
Others are “hoping that in some point in time”¬ù the U.S. would pass a law granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants who’ve been living here for a certain number of years. Tax receipts would not only prove residency but also strengthen their case for citizenship, explained City Hall’s new immigrant policy guru and mayoral staffer, Kica Matos.
The program’s expansion to include the undocumented follows in the vein of the city’s new immigrant protection policy, which allows immigrants to call police without fear of deportation.
“If you’re a member of the community, you’re working in the community, you’re enjoying the benefits of the community, and you should pay taxes in the community,”¬ù said DeStefano (pictured).
“We’re going to help folks do that, explain how they can do that, and not feel threatened that they’re somehow being turned into immigration as a result.”¬ù
Many undocumented workers already pay income tax by filing through an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which is given without proof of U.S. citizenship. The program was created in 1998 to allow illegal immigrants to do just that, said Matos.
New Haven has shown strong participation in the ITIN program. In 2006, New Haven had the fifth highest number of ITIN users in the state, with 776 contributors, or 1.6 percent of the city’s taxpayers.
Not all of those ITIN-users are undocumented immigrants “” some may be foreign nationals, such as visiting professors at Yale. There’s no count on how many of the 776 contributors were undocumented workers.
But Matos and Laura Huizar of the Latino advocacy and social-service organization JUNTA for Progressive Action said there’s ample interest within the Latino community. Both will be reaching out to the undocumented to encourage VITA participation.
Can they be assured they won’t be deported? “There are no assurances,”¬ù replied Matos. An IRS (Internal Revenue Services) spokeswoman didn’t return a request for comment as to whether the IRS shares the ITIN list with the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration issues.
Matos said her research showed the IRS and homeland security office have been “reluctant”¬ù to get into each other’s business concerning ITIN participants. In the ITIN’s eight years of existence, only two instances have come up where ITIN filers ended up in trouble with immigration officials, Matos said.
Get Involved
In an effort to give more low-income families and workers the tax breaks they deserve, the city is boosting its volunteer forces for the VITA program. So far, 60 active volunteers have been recruited to work at the program’s 11 different sites throughout the city.
To volunteer your time, email here or call VITA at 946‑8482. You can also call 946‑8486 to schedule an appointment for tax help. E‑filing begins Feb. 3.
The Mayor and his team deserve a lot of credit on this. This is a great way to keep building an ethic of immigrant tax-paying. It's also another nail in the coffin of the "free-loader" argument which so often rears its ugly head. Most data suggest that the majority of undocumented immigrants in the US are already paying taxes, and that those that don't are pretty much paying "defacto taxes" via the incredibly low wages they're willing to accept.