No Tax Rebate Checks Without a Social Security Number
Have you received your tax rebate check? If your tax return included an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), don't expect a check in the mail.
The IRS issues Taxpayer Identification numbers to individuals who are required to file a federal tax return, but who do not have, and are not eligible, to obtain a Social Security number. A Taxpayer Identification number is used on tax returns in lieu of a Social Security number.
Members of the Federation for American Immigration Reform lobbied against a version of the bill that didn't require a Social Security number for the rebate, because they wanted to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving checks. Although the group meant well, they didn't make allowances for thousands of taxpaying legal immigrants and those with foreign spouses using a Tax ID Number instead of a Social Security Number. To make matters more difficult, most of this group filed their taxes unaware of the eligibility. The IRS only posted this information on its website on April 14 - the day before the tax filing deadline.
The IRS advised couples that they had the option of filing separately instead of jointly. This would mean the U.S. citizen would then be eligible because they are not tied to their spouse's Taxpayer Identification Number. Those who are involved in family immigration know that joint tax returns can be a powerful piece of evidence for immigration visas and petitions; so really, the choice isn't that black and white.
As the tax rebate checks have proven, having a Social Security Number is important. Be sure to apply for one as soon as you're eligible.
Comments
There are lot of people with social security numbers who also didn’t receive a refund for other reasons, such as earning too much. And these folks are among those who pay a lot more taxes than others at the bottom of the wage scale who did get a refund. What can we say, life isn’t fair.
Mary – your comment is misguided. The issue is not that people aren’t recieving checks due to pay-scale ineligibility. The article simply discusses an inadvertent (or presumably inadvertent) loophole in the legislation.
The issue is that there are LEGAL immigrants in this country who are contributing to the tax base, who are actively participating in the American economy, and who are eligible under all of the appropriate guidlelines, except they have been assigned a TIN instead of an SSN. This includes people who have married US Citizens, have lived in the country for some time, and are waiting on an SSN application. This takes anywhere from 6 weeks to several months, depending on how long it takes our overtaxed Department of Homeland Security offices to perform a background check (despite the fact that a background check is done for legal immigration anyway).
The issue of whether people in a higher income bracket should have recieved a check is a seperate topic. As is whether the legislation should have ever passed in the first place.
The article is valid and relevant because you can’t fix mistakes or prevent the in the future if you don’t know that a mistake even occurred in the first place.
Sara,
I don’t think my comment is at all off topic or misguided. My point was that immigrants were not singled out; large numbers of US citizens were also excluded for different reasons. The whole point of the stimulus program was to quickly push some cash into the hands of the public. They achieved their goal, whatever the results. And I think you’ll agree that people illegally present in the US should NOT get any sort of benefit; the program was constructed so as to preclude them from benefitting. I do sympathize with people who are here legally and who have to put up with the notoriously inefficient and slow immigration bureaucracy we have here; our system is simply not up to speed and overwhelmed with the millions of people applying for benefits. It is probably the worst federal bureaucracy of them all.
To put this in perspective: I am a US citizen who’s worked for DOD for over 25 years in the service of the armed forces outside of the US. I have a foreign national wife, who was issued a TIN after we got married, and we file jointly, which means all her foreign earned income is declared to the IRS. She has never lived in the States, and has had no opportunity to even get an SSN. And, of course, we are not eligible to receive a penny of this highly-touted Economic Stimulus Package. Congress quickly saw its error and revised the bill to included active duty military members with spouses in the same status, but DOD civilians were ignored – guess our lobby isn’t powerful enough. And before it’s said, let me point out that many of us deploy and face similar sacrifices without the myriad benefits that the military enjoys. As far as illegal aliens are concerned, it seems to me that regardless of your status, if you pay taxes to the Treasury, you should also have all the benefits that any taxpayer has.
Hi,
Has there been any change to this rule since? As this loophole will exclude many eligible residents from getting the Rebate Check. Just wish to know whether you can submit a revised return after your spouse has received SSN?
Hi Shailesh,
The following Q&A is taken directly from the IRS website:
Q. If I currently have an ITIN and file my return using it but later this year get an SSN, can I amend my return to get the payment or will I need to wait until I file my 2008 return to claim it?
A. You will need to wait until you file your 2008 income tax return.
продам Форд-Фокус 2008 года за 200 тр. торг возможет. срочно!!!
+7 960 200 9209