With Tax Day approaching—the deadline to file federal income taxes being April 17—many find themselves rushing to get their documents in order and tax returns ready. But a recent case should serve as a cautionary tale to immigrants when filing their taxes. The Supreme Court has ruled that filing a false tax return is an aggravated felony and it may cause the automatic deportation of legal residents. The ruling took place after a Japanese couple, Akio and Fusako Kawashima, was charged by the IRS with filing a false corporate tax return. The couple pleaded guilty and agreed to pay the amount owed to the IRS yet in spite of this, immigration authorities decided to deport them more than a decade later. According to the Supreme Court, individuals who defraud the IRS for more than $10,000 should be deported regardless of their legal status in the country, that is why, even though they are lawful immigrants, they were deported. This Supreme Court case and its ruling is a warning for millions of legal immigrants in the United States who will be filing their tax returns because if not done accurately, they may face deportation.
With Tax Day approaching—the deadline to file federal income taxes being April 17—many find themselves rushing to get their documents in order and tax returns ready. But a recent case should serve as a cautionary tale to immigrants when filing their taxes. The Supreme Court has ruled that filing a false tax return is an aggravated felony and it may cause the automatic deportation of legal residents. The ruling took place after a Japanese couple, Akio and Fusako Kawashima, was charged by the IRS with filing a false corporate tax return. The couple pleaded guilty and agreed to pay the amount owed to the IRS yet in spite of this, immigration authorities decided to deport them more than a decade later. According to the Supreme Court, individuals who defraud the IRS for more than $10,000 should be deported regardless of their legal status in the country, that is why, even though they are lawful immigrants, they were deported. This Supreme Court case and its ruling is a warning for millions of legal immigrants in the United States who will be filing their tax returns because if not done accurately, they may face deportation.
There are always those who are looking for opportunities to scam people out of their money, and there are also those who claim to be something that they are not, so immigrants should beware. The most important piece of advice is for individuals to get the aid of a reliable and experienced tax preparer since many times, in an effort to provide clients with a big tax refund, tax preparers may inflate or omit numbers to allegedly benefit taxpayers. But given that taxpayers are the ones who are ultimately responsible for signing and reviewing their tax return, concealing or disguising information may result in legal consequences that range from paying fines to going to jail. That is why it is important that they always make sure that their tax preparer is an accredited tax preparer, certified public accountant (CPA), licensed public accountant, or tax attorney. For those immigrants with bank accounts and properties outside of the U.S., they are legally obligated to report those and pay taxes accordingly, no matter if the accounts are offshore and the properties are far away from the U.S. Immigrants should also be aware that they need to pay taxes on the extra income they receive, which includes any income apart from their fixed salary. Similarly, they also need to be careful not to over-report deductions, which may be especially confusing for those who are new in the country. And everyone should also be aware of phishing being that it is a common scam tactic that asks individuals for personal information such as social security number and address and the information is then used for fraudulent purposes, including false tax returns. The above stated reasons and for the fact that filing tax returns can be tricky, is why this time of year is nearly always one filled with anxiety for taxpayers. It is especially important immigrants pay close attention to these caveats given that a careless mistake could have them risking their legal residency in this country.
