Connecticut is estimated to have more than 110,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
The state’s undocumented population paid more than $400 million in taxes in 2022, according to new data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Senior policy analyst Marco Guzman said the report's goal isn’t to endorse either side of the immigration policy debate, but rather to inform the public and policymakers.
“We do hope it informs people and allows them to make informed decisions and judgments,” Guzman said. “You can clearly see in this research that undocumented immigrants do pay taxes and do contribute to the federal government in their states and the localities that they live in.”
The report estimates that Connecticut’s undocumented immigrants would pay $90 million more in taxes if they were granted citizenship.
“By not granting legal status, Connecticut is leaving about $90 million on the table,” Guzman said.
Workers without Social Security numbers often use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to file.
Guzman said the tax rates among undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens are comparable, but there is a gap in compliance rates. He estimated that undocumented immigrants file around 60-75% of the time, while documented citizens file in the high 80%.
“We think a lot of that is driven by the fact that you know, this is kind of a complex space,” Guzman said. “Some undocumented immigrants might be worried about filing, they might not have the information that they need. And we think that if they were given some sort of legal status or permanent work status, that those compliance rates would increase.”
In 2022, undocumented immigrants in New York paid more than $3.1 billion in taxes, making it one of six states with billion-dollar figures.
In total, undocumented immigrants across the country pay more than $97 billion in taxes each year.
