I was just talking to somebody who said Mexicans come here and don't have to pay taxes for 5 years.

[raccoon]

(Incidentally, this wasn't a tea bagger but an African American who usually expresses progressive views.)

I said I didn't think that was true, where did she hear that?

It was on TV, she said. I couldn't get anything more definite than that.

I asked what kind of taxes was she referring to--federal income taxes? Sales taxes? She didn't know.

This isn't the first time I've heard this. I've known Mexican immigrants, and one got rather perturbed at the idea "Mexicans don't pay taxes."

Where do people get the idea that Mexicans (and other immigrants) don't have to pay taxes for 5 years?
Or the idea they just don't have to pay taxes? :shrug:

[bemildred]

1. He means corporations, not Mexicans, and it's forever, not five years. nt

[Iggo]

6. Excellent.

:fistbump:

[meegbear]

2. ...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100122175353AA6lvYX

[Lasher]

3. Snopes says it's false.

Tax Holidays for Immigrants

Claim: The U.S. government grants a seven-year tax holiday to certain favored groups of immigrants and provides them with free housing, new cars, and clothing allowances as well.

FALSE

Origins: Forget about it; nobody is getting any breaks. The U.S. government wants taxes from everybody, native-born or newly-arrived.

Stories about immigrants' receiving new cars, apartments and clothing allowances from the government and being exempted from paying taxes date to at least the late 1960s; that's how old this canard is. Often the "while poor American kids are starving" kicker is added to these tales, provoking a righteously indignant response from those who hear it.

Almost without exception, versions of this rumor mention a single specific ethnic group. The tale isn't about wanting to close the borders to all immigrants; it's a backlash against one particular group of new arrivals, usually one which is perceived to have developed a sudden large presence in the teller's neighborhood.

In Miami, it's Cubans who are said to be getting all those government goodies. In Detroit, it's recently-arrived Arabs. And all over the U.S., Asians are rumored to be getting those tax breaks, free shoes, new cars, and interest-free loans.

http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/immigrants.asp

[FormerDittoHead]

34. Yes - I heard this same story but it was with the Vietnamese. n/t

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I've heard this falsehood repeated by the gullible for years now

I've tried valiantly to counter their claims, but I'm always met with something on the order of, 'can you prove they're NOT getting it?' One day I'm going to roll my eyes so far back into my head that they're going to get stuck there!

[Lex]

5. certainly when they buy items, they pay sales tax . . .

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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[pinboy3niner]

16. False

They pay property taxes where they live as homeowners or renters, just like everybody else.

[Iggo]

7. good morning.

[Heidi]

8. Even "illegals" pay taxes, FICA, everything you and I pay unless they're working for cash.

The hell of it is, immigrants with invalid papers often pay under an assumed name, so they'll never benefit from Social Security or Medicare. (I get it that none of us may benefit from Social Security or Medicare in the future if the system goes belly up, but that's wrong, too. If you paid, you should be able to collect.)

People get that idea because they're not thinking it through, but speaking out of their own anti-immigrant bias.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[gratuitous]

9. You had a very good response

Where did you hear that? What taxes are you talking about? If your friend is, as you say, usually progressive, these questions will bother her enough to investigate what she was saying, and probably will change her mind when she finds out it's not true. In the meantime, you checked into it, other people here have checked into it, and now a whole bunch of people know it's not true. So, the next time it comes up (and it will), a lot of us will be better prepared.

Good job.

[Zoeisright]

10. That "somebody" is an idiot.

Of course Mexicans pay taxes. Illegal immigrants pay taxes.

The difference is, they don't get to use many, if any, of the benefits they SHOULD receive from paying those taxes. For instance, it's estimated that illegals pay $7 BILLION into Social Security every year, and they can't get a penny of it.

http://roygermano.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/do-illegal-immigrants-pay-taxes/

The truth about those "five years"? They can't collect any WELFARE BENEFITS for the first five years they're in this country. I don't know who she's listening to, but it sounds like a repig liar, probably Limpballs, BlecKKK, or O'Lielly.

[givebeesachance]

15. First of all, they get public schools for their kids, use ERs for medical assistance

and we can go on and on. The point is that you think this Black person is an idiot. Go to downtown Chicago and see the hotel where they busted a union and Black women were booted out in favor of illegal Hispanic women. They are still protesting to this day. This is what is being done to the lowerclass and you cheer it on because it doesn't directly affect you.

[cheapdate]

24. Yes, public primary schools accept all children,

and hospital emergency rooms are required to provide care sufficient to stabilize life threatening injuries, for anyone who is brought in. No one disputes that there are negative costs associated with illegal immigration. Unreimbursed emergency room treatment is one of the largest of them. Depression of wages in the some of the building trades is another. It's common for demagogues to focus solely on the negative costs, which of course tells only half of the story.

The fact is that whenever any serious comprehensive economic analysis has looked at the total economic impact of illegal immigration, they have found that net economic impact was neutral, to slightly negative. Positive economic impacts include all of the economic activity that is generated by immigrants including economic production at their employment, and all of the normal economic activity, such as renting a place to live, buying groceries, eating at restaurants, etc. Immigrants pay all of the same local and excise taxes as citizens, which contributes to the local tax base, and is the primary source funds for public primary schools in many jurisdictions in the US.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

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[LuckyLib]

26. Absolutely on target. The net gain of undocumented workers outweighs the costs -- not that we don't

need immigration reform -- but we need to correct folks on these decade old myths that keep floating around that do nothing but sow resentment and misinformation.

[montanto]

11. Is tru!! + They get paid $60 an hour for picking

lettuce. All hour jobs are belongs to them!!

[givebeesachance]

12. What do you do for a living?

I will BET that it isn't an hourly manual labor job. Lower-class Whites and Blacks have been hurt by illegal Mexicans, C. and S. Americans and Eastern Europeans in my neck of the woods. This is something of which I am very familiar but glad to see you don't have any contact with the problems it is causing.:eyes:

[tkmorris]

21. All of which has exactly ZERO to do with the original post

The original post concerned the claim that undocumented workers don't pay taxes for 5 years, which is blatantly false and an obvious attempt on the part of whoever thought up that steaming pile of lies to demonize immigrants.

If there is a problem in your area with manual labor jobs becoming dominated by undocumented workers my advice to you is to look to those willing to break the law and exploit these workers rather than pay Americans a living wage. They are no better than companies that move entire factories overseas to save on labor costs, they have merely found a way to do it without moving the business.

[SaveAmerica]

30. Are you sure all the people you're referring to as 'illegal' are truly here illegally?

Not everyone who looks illegal is illegal.

[cheapdate]

33. Please tell me more.

You indicated that you are very knowledgeable about the negative impact of immigrants in your community. I am also interested in how immigration affect communities in the US. If I understand correctly, where you live, low-income 'whites and 'blacks' have been harmed by illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe.

Who was harmed? How were they harmed?

[RB TexLa]

38. And my people "stole" jobs from Anglos when they came here. Guess what, no apology from me.

I'm sure you would say they were wrong for coming here and bettering their lives. YOU are wrong.

[geardaddy]

17. Sounds like some GOP/Tea-bag talking point. n/t

[ej510]

18. Ignorant idiot.

[southernyankeebelle]

19. Unless ANYONE is working under the table they are the only ones not

paying taxes.

[EFerrari]

20. Even then, sales tax, tax on gas, property taxes via rent. n/t

[Obamanaut]

37. There are many who have no federal income tax burden. Anyone who

buys anything retail pays sales tax, and people who drive pay taxes in the form of a fee for a license, fuel tax, etc., but not everyone pays federal income tax.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. If she can't cite any specifics I would encourage her to keep her mouth shut and avoid

further embarrassment.

[JoePhilly]

23. They also get FREE DENTAL and a 3 month trial SPA MEMBERSHIP.

Then, if they have babies, then they get a new GM car for free, as part of Obama's take over of the auto industry.

You have to read between the lines to find out these things.

[SaveAmerica]

31. No toaster? Pony?

[Obamanaut]

27. Anyone who buys anything via retail sales pays taxes, even tourists

who are legal. Taxes on clothing, beverages, real food in some states and nearly all 'junk' food.

It is possible that illegal/undocumented workers are not paying federal income tax, it is even possible they do not file a return for fear of being found out. Even some employed citizens do not pay federal income tax.

[Bluenorthwest]

29. All respect, but the OP says the friend claims they are exempt

for five years, on an official basis, which means she is talking about legal immigrants. To state that 'they do not have to pay for five years' is nothing at all like saying 'some might avoid filing out of fear'.
It is totally false that any legal immigrants are expempt from income taxes for five years.

[Obamanaut]

32. Check this out. The second part of my response, pasted below, does

not mention exemptions (generally considered to be legal), but does mention the *possibility* that some of the undocumented/illegal workers/immigrants don't file due to a fear factor. I cannot find where I suggested it is NOT false that legal immigrants are exempted.

You can agree though, that many many working citizens have no federal tax burden, can you not? Earned Income Tax Credit covers many lower income workers, such that they not only do not pay any income tax, but they get a 'check in the mail' due to EITC.

"It is possible that illegal/undocumented workers are not paying federal income tax, it is even possible they do not file a return for fear of being found out. Even some employed citizens do not pay federal income tax"

[Bluenorthwest]

28. Only an idiot would believe such a thing. An idiot who has not

paid many taxes to be specific.

[SmileyRose]

35. Us versus THEM

Tell her the "illegal" Mexican workers are not her enemy. Whether they pay taxes or not. She and them are in the same boat.

[pampango]

36. For repubs/teabaggers, "US versus THEM" is about all they've got.

US (tax payers) vs. THEM (high-paid unionized public workers),
US (Americans) vs. THEM (immigrants - some exempt legal immigrants, others include all immigrants),
US (whites) vs. THEM (minorities - we want our country back),
US (straights) vs. THEM (gays),
the list goes on and on.