Many Americans don’t realize how much cash illegal immigrants contribute to the economy. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, “undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022,” using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). Though they aren’t eligible for tax benefits, like Social Security, many hope that making these payments will one day help their case for legalization.

Millions of immigrants living in the country illegally still pay income taxes every year, contributing billions to federal, state, and local governments, often through the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number program (ITIN), which allows those without Social Security numbers to file returns. (Of course, immigrants — like everyone else — also pay sales taxes, gas taxes, etc.)

Congressional Republicans, backed by the White House, are pushing for a new tax credit that would direct billions of dollars a year to school voucher programs — and not just in conservative states. The program would be fueled by a powerful, never-before-tried incentive: Taxpayers who donate to voucher programs would get 100 percent of their money back when they file their taxes. That means the tax break for giving to voucher programs would dwarf tax incentives for giving to churches, hospitals, food banks and every other charity.

Immigrants in the country illegally paid nearly $100 billion in taxes in 2022, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic policy. But that source of government revenue may soon taper off as the Trump administration pushes the Internal Revenue Service to help it accelerate its program of mass deportations. The Washington Post reported Friday that the IRS rejected a request from Homeland Security to reveal the addresses of 700,000 people the agency suspects of being undocumented, an action that could violate taxpayer privacy laws. But the Post went on to report the new acting IRS commissioner Melanie Krause is (surprise) more amenable to complying with the request to turn over the taxpayer data of immigrants.

Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $97 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, according to a July 2024 report, opens new tab by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which used data on taxpayers with ITINs to estimate tax revenue.

Over the coming months, President Donald Trump and his congressional allies will try to rewrite the nation’s tax laws, with promises of cuts for companies, workers and retirees. There are trillions of dollars on the line with those changes. But a certain segment of Americans will be focused on just one question: How much of their state and local taxes (SALT) will they be allowed to deduct?

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to end federal taxation of Social Security retirement benefits. This isn’t something he can do unilaterally. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president and Republican lawmakers have discussed including this move in a budget package. But so far in his second term, President Trump has made some changes on his own that affect Social Security either directly or indirectly. Here are four things you should know.

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed at eliminating federal benefits for undocumented migrants in the United States, describing the benefits as an improper use of taxpayer resources.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders, including one aimed at “the efficient and expedited removal of aliens from the United States.” It calls for the Department of Homeland Security to expand its reach and deport “removable aliens” in every state. Those efforts have run into obstacles – most notably a lack of detention space and funding – but if successful, mass deportations could have unintended consequences. For one, they could mean less money for already meager Social Security trust funds.