Ok..is this true? I was told that Foreigners don't pay any taxes while

[Gin]

they work here in the US..If this is true...the middle class is truly picking up the tab for the whole country.

I'm mad as hell..and I'm not gonna take it anymore.

[dpbrown]

1. That is so not true

I know "foreigners" pay federal income tax, and naturally pay all sales taxes. Being as how they're not eligible for Social Security or Medicare, they may get a writeoff against payroll deductions for those taxes.

I'm pretty sure that's not what you meant, though.

[Tinoire]

3. Oh they pay into Social Security and Medicare also

The US government isn't taking any chances on losing a dime! :)

Peace

[SeattleDem]

6. true!

It's even worse... I have a friend who is a Norweigian citizen, working in Norway for a US company. Because the US company pays him, they withhold FICA from his checks but he will never be eligible for any benefits (and he doesn't even live in the US)

AND, if you can imagine this, his wife is a US citizen, but his work hours will NOT count towards SS benefits for her! She will get nothing from SS because she lives abroad and, according to the US, is not contributing! She'd have to come back and work in the US for at least 10 years and pay FICA herself to get credit.

on edit: alright, what's with the new emoti-con thing if you put an exclamation point inside a parenthesis? I don't want that little grey face there!

[Brian34986]

15. This is true only for diplomats

The US State Department issues little wallet-sized cards to foreigh diplomats and their families which states they are excempt from paying taxes. This card is used in any transaction where sales tax would normally be added. Shops in NYC and the DC area are very familiar with this, but probably those in othere regions don't see it very often.

Foreign diplomats do not pay income or payroll taxes in the US, and US diplomats receive comprable treatment in foreign countries. US diplomats pay US income (including state and federal) as well as FICA.

[Tinoire]

2. Don't be mad!

Where did you get that bogus piece of information?

My ex was a foreigner and we paid enough in taxes last year to finance at least one of the Venezuelan coups.

Trust me on this one- death and taxes alive and well in the US!

Peace

[Gin]

5. had a conversation with a customer today who said that...and other things.

I thought they paid..but wasn't sure. Thanks for the replies.

[ieoeja]

4. No

They pay the whole gamut of payroll taxes: federal income, state income (if any), medicare and social security. And, of course, they pay all of the consumer taxes: sales, excise, etc.

[Blue_Chill]

7. I wish it were true

and if it is I want my damn money back!

[Riptide]

8. Don't get mad, get the facts!

As a Canadian citizen living in the US, and I payed all taxes - federal, state, and local. I paid sales tax, property tax, and school tax. I also paid into social security and unemployment!

Foreigners pay taxes! This is just right wing, xenophobic propoganda designed to stir up anger and resentment against non-Americans.

This must be a common myth though, because people used to ask me all the time if I had to pay taxes.

[Bozita]

24. You said it well and in a minimum of words.

Your experiences help to dispell what has grown to be one of the major urban myths.

The rumors seem to be aimed at recent-immigrant small business owners.

[SeattleDem]

9. maybe she was confused (the woman who told you this)

US citizens who work abroad can get an exemption from US taxes if they pay taxes in their "host" country. Maybe that's what she was thinking of??

of course, Bush just changed that in the tax plan. Ex-pats will now have to pay BOTH countries' taxes. No more exemptions from US taxes for ex-patriots starting this year, I think. That was one way to "balance" that outrageous tax giveaway plan. They increased taxes on US citizens abroad to give tax cuts to the top tiers.

[EarlG]

10. Taxes, taxes

I can tell you for a fact that resident aliens pay taxes, including federal and state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare - the whole bit. They have to file a tax return the same as everyone else.

How do I know? Because I am one :)

Yup, thanks to Our Great Leader I even got a tax cut :eyes:

[trof]

11. but-but-but-but

ya mean yer not even a MURICAN?
jeez
How'd all these derned furriners get in here?
Who left the door open?
Pull the ladder up.

Seriously...(and this is NOT a suck-up)you deserve even more gratitude for helping out us poor screwed up muricans get DU up and running.
Thank you, foriegn devil.
;-)

[nannygoat]

12. Not necessarily if you're "illegal", EarlG...

I used to work with farmworkers for 11 years in NC (part of that time the organization I worked with was an IRS VITA site to assist low-income folks with completing their income tax returns). My significant other is a permanent resident alien from Mexico who has lots of single, young "undocumented" friends who do the following:

When starting a "new" job, these friends complete their W-2s and claim a bunch of dependents. (Mexico and Canada both have treaties with the US so that they can count eligible dependents living in Mexico or Canada as dependents for tax purposes). This results in very little, if any, taxes being deducted from their paychecks. Then on April 15th, when the rest of us have to file our income tax returns and prove "real" dependents (by supplying a name and valid SSN), these folks don't file at all.

Of course, permanent resident aliens or anyone who has some kind of legal status with the INS (or whatever it's called now), would not take the chance of NOT filing taxes (the INS could use this as a reason to deny/hassle an applicant or resident). Amazingly, noone comes after these non-filers. Although, the fact that they didn't pay income taxes while they were undocumented and working "illegally" may hurt them in the future if they have an opportunity to obtain legal status.

In reality, these folks would probably not pay any taxes anyway, but they would at least have to jump through the hoops of getting Taxpayer ID #s (ITIN) for themselves and their eligible family members (like an SSN but used only for tax purposes; not employment purposes), and they would have to retain proof of a certain amount of support for their family members in Mexico.

Of course, these folks pay FICA and they may never see any of that (we probably won't either, though).

[newyawker99]

13. Hi Riptide!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. You're not even an American but you run an anti-Bush board???

Watch out! Some here at DU think one should not participate in politics if one can't vote. I got hit with that line just a few days ago. As for me, well, from one resident alien to another, that argument just doesn't hold water :)



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http://bushspeaks.com - sardonic political toons
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[gardenista]

14. Not only is it not true, many of them pay Soc. Sec. that they'll never

be able to collect.

Where did you hear this?

[_Jumper_]

16. The rich pay the vast majority of taxes

.

[inthecorneroverhere]

17. under the table

This is the case if they are 'working under the table' e.g. illegally.

Most of the 'under the table' jobs, such as farm, restaurant or sweatshop work, don't earn enough money that taxes would amount to much.

However, in an economy with relatively high unemployment, there are out-of-work Americans who need some of these jobs.

If foreigners have a green card and are working at a 'normal job,' they pay taxes like everyone else.

[_Jumper_]

18. How many Americans would pick berries?

?

[inthecorneroverhere]

20. some of these jobs

I said 'some' of these jobs.

Did you know that the software co.s are importing programmers from India so that they can pay them lower wages and not keep more senior American IT workers on-staff?

[July]

21. I know a few

My very American mother and her siblings picked berries (and beans) when they were kids. Some of her fondest memories, though I'm sure anyone of my generation couldn't handle it.

As for the foreigners paying taxes question . . . are you (initial poster) for real? What are you mad as hell about? Foreigners DO pay taxes. Nobody's getting away with anything. Anyone who works here legally gets all the same kinds of withholding as an American does, and anyone who tells you something else is just trying to make trouble.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. They used to

Baby boomers in the Pacific Northwest (I wasn't here, but my cousins were) used to earn money by picking berries. The farm owners would come around and recruit kids during the summer.

I'm not sure when they switched over from hiring local children and teenagers to hiring Latino immigrants or why they did so.

From what I've seen, the conditions on the berry farms are so lousy that Americans who had alternatives would not want to work there. Perhaps more Americans would want those jobs if they paid decently and offered livable accommodations for the workers instead of makeshift sheds with no electricity, running water, or toilets.

[Nazgul35]

23. No taxation...

without representation...where'd I hear that from?

Non-citizens used to be able to vote in the US...until the progressives broke up the machines....They used to take people from Ellis Island directly to a voting booth....this is not a constitutional ban....

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. By the way

if your country has a tax treaty with the U.S. (as most industrialized countries do), you pay taxes in the U.S. and are exempt from your home country's taxes up to a certain amount.

U.S. citizens living in Japan pay all Japanese taxes, and if my information is correct, they have to file with the IRS here, although foreign income under a certain level is exempt.