Tax question: How are illegals paid at farms, lawn care, construction, etc?

by Bad_Wolf 17 Replies latest social current

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  Bad_Wolf

  I was wondering how exactly is it that illegals can get paid and be under the radar?

  A business takes in cash. At farms, construction, etc, most probably comes in from checks and credit. Businesses then have tax deductions, their receipts showing how much paid for materials, labor etc. If a business is hiring illegals full time, are they not claiming any labor and then paying taxes on extra cash? But a farm can't operate without labor, so that might raise a red flag. If they are paying people, after a certain amount it has to get reported.

  With everything that is traced, I just wonder how they are able to do it?
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  Simon

  Either they pay cash or the illegals are using stolen identities to pass checks. Most illegal immigrants are committing at least 2 crimes.

  A long long time ago I worked on a computer system where I made the assumption that a persons unique national insurance number was, well, unique. Turned out that some places might have hundreds of people all with the exact same number.

  I'm sure it was just a clerical mistake made when issuing them ...
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  sir82

  A lot of times, undocumented immigrants purchase fake Social Security Numbers, which enables them to get legitimate looking IDs, which are then used for filling in W-4s & other tax forms, so it looks like everything is "normal". They are paid by check or direct deposit just like everyone else, taxes are withheld, etc.
  

  Sales of fake SSNs is a BIG business.

  Effective prosecution of those who steal & sell SSNs, and those who knowingly hire undocumented workers, would go a lot further in reducing illegal immigration than "building a wall".
  
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  JW_Rogue

  They buy or borrow a social security with a matching name. One trick is to use a social security number of a child who won't be entering the workforce until years later. The number is run and it checks out as a legal citizen, the person begins cashing checks under this false name. That is why many persons without legal status use check cashing places that don't require a photo ID.
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  silentbuddha

  I farm now, and I will tell you how many of these lowlife farmers pay these people.

  1. There is an individual who has a company that provides illegal laborers. Some of them legal and some are not.

  2. The farmer cuts a check at the end of the week to this individual that provides the workers. That check may be anywhere from $1 to $30,000 a week. The farmers hands are clean at this point.

  3. The provider of labor then writes a check or passes the cash to the legal worker, who then passes that cash out to the others who are illegal.

  Most of these people live in a communal setting with an upwards of 10 people in 2 or 3 bedroom mobile homes.
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  caves

  I use to work with a lot of Spanish 'illegal' 'brothers' as well as my ex wife 20 years ago was not legal to work when we met and married. (Yes I know I was retarded, I was 16.) Most of them just did it themselves on a copy a machine. 20 years ago photo copied SS# were excepted more so than today. I must have seen 15 -20 people at a time use the same SS# with a different name on it.

  Pisses me right off.
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  Still Totally ADD

  It's been a broken system for a long time. Many jobs for them come from framing, construction and slaughter houses. Jobs most in this country will not do anymore because it hard work. This broken system has been supported by big business for a long time. My question is who is more responsible for this problem the illegal immigrants or the businesses that hire them? Even with normal home construction it very common to be paid under the table for your work no matter who you are. If everything was above board the cost of a new house would skyrocket. There is a unspoken underground economy that has been taking lace for along time. Still Totally ADD
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  TD

  A lot of times, undocumented immigrants purchase fake Social Security Numbers, which enables them to get legitimate looking IDs, which are then used for filling in W-4s & other tax forms, so it looks like everything is "normal". They are paid by check or direct deposit just like everyone else, taxes are withheld, etc.

  Yes. This is very typical. SS numbers are issued at birth, so there is a period of years, where they're not actually being used.
  

  Go to any construction site on payday and you will see an expensive vehicle pull up around noon. The driver will roll his window down about a half inch so that Hispanic workers can slip their endorsed checks through. He'll cash them on the spot minus about 15%. This is costly for the worker, but it limits the exposure of their stolen credentials.
  

  Paying people "under the table" is not nearly as common as its made out to be. Enforcement targets the employer, not the worker and the penalties are just too severe.
  
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  sir82

  My question is who is more responsible for this problem the illegal immigrants or the businesses that hire them?

  You wouldn't have 10% of the current number of undocumented immigrants coming in, if it were nearly impossible for them to find work. Target the employers.

  Unfortunately, the employers also make enormously large campaign donations, so that will never happen.
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  StarTrekAngel

  This from first hand experience as many relatives of my wife side of the family are here in less than legal terms.

  Hardly anyone would be willing to sell their own SSN in this age of identity theft. Generally there is two main way an SSN makes it to the hands of an illegal worker for use

  - Families lend each other the SSN from their underage kids. This is done to "help" relatives in need whom are here illegally. Problem is you don't always know if this other person is trust worthy or if in an effort to make an extra buck this person will sell your SSN further down the line.

  - Some people come to the US and have babies. They eventually have get a SSN. If they happen to go back to Mexico shortly after (this is not always the intent, people just wing it sometimes) they realize they are not using the SSN so it is handed over to others for work or it is given to a legal family member so they can claim it in their income tax in exchange for a piece of the pie. I know of at least one relative that got screwed over this. He accepted the SSN of a child as a "favor" for a poor family in exchange for like 30% of the return. He did this not knowing the parents of the child were trying to play everyone (generally the money is demanded ahead of the actual return coming in). This is an easy flag for the IRS. The child was being claim as a dependant in more than one tax return and he got audited. Had to pay back everything with penalties.