House Passes Bill to End Child Tax Credit Refunds to Illegal Aliens

Late last week, the House approved a budget reconciliation package (H.R.5652) offered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) that included Rep. Sam Johnson’s bill to prevent Child Tax Credit refunds from going to illegal aliens. The refund that can be up to $1,000 per child goes to any taxfilier, but the measure proposed by Rep. Johnson (R-Texas) would require a valid Social Security number.Under current law, any taxfiler using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) can claim the tax credit.The Inspector General for the U.S. Treasury Department has made recommendations for years on ways to close up this loophole that cost U.S. taxpayers $4 billion in 2010.A report in late-April by WTHR-TV in Indianapolis shed more light on the subject, and NumbersUSA featured the report and the issue during our May 10 webcast. We also had faxes available for activists to send to their three Members of Congress. The report from WTHR included interviews with a tax preparer who blew the whistle on the loophole and several illegal aliens who were taking advantage of the refundable credit.While the Senate has not considered the legislation, there are two bills that would prohibit illegal aliens from claiming the child tax credit – S.3083 was just offered by Sen. Marco Rubio and S.577 offered by Sen. David Vitter.