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A comment on US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017. Parent comment

Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by downandout on Friday April 21, 2017 @03:35PM (#14168679)
I seriously doubt this could account for a 5% drop in filings. Also, the primary reason that illegal immigrants file tax returns is to obtain refunds. Yet the total dollar amount of refunds disbursed actually increased this year despite the large drop in filings. If the drop in filings were immigration related, a similar drop in overall refunds would have been the likely result.
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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by findateamfirst on Friday April 21, 2017 @03:55PM (#14168903)
Why not? 4.5 million people without SSNS filed last year.

http://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523634144/tax-filings-seen-dip...

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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by mbroshi on Friday April 21, 2017 @04:17PM (#14169063)
The drop in returns received was 6 million.
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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by iaw on Friday April 21, 2017 @04:00PM (#14168936)
> Also, the primary reason that illegal immigrants file tax returns is to obtain refunds.

Could you source this statement? I haven't seen anything besides speculation about this subject.

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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by metaphor on Friday April 21, 2017 @04:46PM (#14169311)
If a US citizen whose income exceeds a defined (low) threshold must file an annual tax return by law, then what other sensible reason would there be for an illegal immigrant to do the same if the primary compliance tracking mechanism is a SSN?
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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by nbcesar on Friday April 21, 2017 @06:25PM (#14169907)
One important reason is to qualify for financial aid at private colleges and universities. I have worked with undocumented parents of documented students applying to really competitive colleges. Some of these colleges will meet their financial need even if their parents are undocumented so these parents file their taxes, often owing taxes, to demonstrate their income.
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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by metaphor on Sunday April 23, 2017 @09:54PM (#14181452)
Makes sense. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by iaw on Saturday April 22, 2017 @03:30PM (#14174282)
Could you provide a source for your speculation?
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Re:US Tax Filings are down 5% as of April 15, 2017 by metaphor on Sunday April 23, 2017 @09:44PM (#14181427)
Precisely what part was speculative?
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