What data sources show undocumented immigrants paid more taxes than major corporations in 2024?
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Executive summary
Multiple reputable analyses found that undocumented immigrants collectively paid roughly $90–$97 billion in federal, state and local taxes for tax year 2022; several fact-checkers and news outlets compared those totals to corporate tax disclosures and concluded that, in recent years, undocumented immigrants paid more in taxes than a handful of large corporations combined (for example Amazon, GM, IBM and Netflix), though the comparisons mix different tax types and years [1] [2] [3].
1. The core data: ITEP’s 2024 estimate and its headline number
The most-cited source behind the claim is the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which in a July 2024 analysis estimated undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022; ITEP’s methodology combines tax-model runs, effective tax rates and ITIN tax-filing data to create its estimate [4] [2] [1].
2. How journalists and fact-checkers used ITEP: apples-to-apples or apples-to-oranges?
Media outlets and fact-checkers compared ITEP’s aggregate $96.7B figure to public corporate tax disclosures. Snopes and PolitiFact noted that comparing people’s combined tax payments to corporate income taxes can be valid for illustrating scale but warned of caveats: corporate disclosures often report only federal corporate income tax while ITEP’s number includes federal, state and local taxes plus payroll taxes like Social Security and Medicare [2] [3].
3. Company disclosures cited in comparisons
Reports that circulated in 2025 used public filings showing Amazon, GM, IBM and Netflix paid roughly $15 billion in federal corporate income taxes in 2024 (combined). Fact-checkers noted that that corporate total is substantially below ITEP’s $96.7B estimate for 2022 — which is why some viral posts said undocumented immigrants paid “more than Amazon, GM, IBM & Netflix combined” [5] [3].
4. Important methodological differences to understand
ITEP’s number aggregates many tax types (federal personal income and payroll taxes; state and local sales, property and income taxes) and is an estimate for 2022 based on tax-unit modeling and ITIN data. Corporate figures often cited are narrow — typically federal corporate income tax from specific years — and may exclude payroll taxes, state and local taxes or off‑balance-sheet credits [4] [2] [6].
5. Other independent estimates and corroboration
Yale’s Budget Lab produced an independent estimate that people in the U.S. illegally paid about $22 billion in federal income taxes in 2023, a number PolitiFact cited when assessing specific comparisons to corporate federal income taxes; the American Immigration Council reported undocumented-household tax payments of $89.8B in 2023 [3] [7]. Reuters and other outlets reiterated that multiple analyses find undocumented immigrants do pay substantial taxes [6] [1].
6. What the comparisons leave out and why context matters
Comparing aggregated taxes paid by millions of people to the corporate income taxes of a few firms can be rhetorically striking but hides mismatches: timing (2022 vs. 2024), tax categories (aggregate vs. federal income tax only), and who ultimately bears certain taxes (e.g., sales taxes are borne by consumers) [4] [3]. Fact-checkers emphasize these caveats while still confirming the basic arithmetic used in viral claims when year and tax types are aligned [2].
7. Competing viewpoints and potential agendas
Advocacy groups and think tanks on both sides use these numbers to support policy aims: immigrant-rights organizations highlight the fiscal contributions to argue against mass deportation and for legalization pathways [7] [8], while critics argue estimates may overstate payments or mislead when compared to corporate tax bills. ITEP describes itself as nonpartisan but has been characterized as liberal by some outlets; independent fact-checkers still rely on its transparent methodology while flagging limits [2] [1].
8. Bottom line for readers seeking to verify the claim
Available reporting shows ITEP’s 2024 study is the principal source for the “undocumented immigrants paid more than these companies” meme and that reputable fact-checkers (Snopes, PolitiFact, Reuters) concluded the comparison is supportable if you match years and recognize which tax categories are included — but the comparison mixes aggregate tax types and corporate income taxes, so it is not a pure apples‑to‑apples fiscal equivalence [2] [3] [6].
Limitations: available sources do not mention a single, directly comparable dataset that reports undocumented immigrants’ taxes for 2024 in the same tax-category breakdowns used in corporate 2024 filings; the key public estimates cited above are for 2022 and 2023 and are model-based [1] [3] [2].