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Fact check: How much did illegal immigrants pay in taxes in 2024
Executive Summary
A consistent set of reports finds that undocumented (commonly called “illegal”) immigrants paid roughly $96–$100 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022, and multiple analyses warn that changes in enforcement or data-sharing could reduce compliance and cost the Treasury billions going forward. The materials provided do not contain a direct, independently verified total for 2024; instead, they document the 2022 tax estimate and subsequent analyses projecting revenue risks if filing declines [1] [2] [3].
1. How big is the headline number that keeps appearing—and where did it come from?
The recurring headline across the supplied analyses is that undocumented immigrants paid nearly $96.7–$100 billion in taxes during 2022, a figure that appears in multiple summaries of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) report [1] [2] [4]. The figure bundles federal, state, and local taxes, including payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, sales and excise taxes, and estimated property taxes for renters and homeowners; one breakdown cited $26 billion to Social Security and $6 billion to Medicare [1]. The repetition of the number across entries suggests a single underlying estimate being cited widely [2] [4].
2. Why these estimates are plausible but not a direct 2024 measurement
The materials show that the $96.7–$100 billion figure is an estimate derived for 2022, not a direct tax tally for 2024, and no provided source offers a discrete 2024 total [2] [5]. The ITEP-style methodology typically estimates undocumented population counts, assigns likely earnings, and applies tax rate assumptions; that produces aggregate estimates for a specific year. Because the supplied pieces repeat the 2022 estimate and explain it in different contexts, they do not constitute contemporaneous 2024 accounting, and the absence of a 2024 update in the provided set means one cannot assert a verified 2024 dollar figure from these materials alone [4] [5].
3. What gets counted in these tax totals—and what’s omitted
The analyses indicate the totals include payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), income taxes, sales and excise taxes, and imputed property taxes [4] [1]. This broad scope captures taxes undocumented workers pay through employment and consumption. However, the provided notes do not clarify whether refundable tax credits or net tax benefit calculations were included, nor do they show line-item transparency beyond the Social Security and Medicare snippets. Therefore, while the totals show substantial contributions, the materials omit granular accounting that would let readers see net tax burdens or per-capita breakdowns [1] [4].
4. Why recent policy changes could change compliance — and the revenue stakes
Analyses supplied in April 2025 warn that policy shifts around data-sharing with immigration authorities or enforcement could prompt undocumented filers to stop paying taxes, producing large revenue losses. A Yale Budget Lab estimate cited in the provided materials projects the IRS could lose $313.3 billion over ten years if undocumented immigrants cease filing, with one-year losses of about $12 billion and broader estimates ranging from $147 billion to $479 billion across a decade depending on assumptions [3] [6]. These figures show that the existing tax base of undocumented filers constitutes a meaningful fiscal stream vulnerable to compliance shocks.
5. Conflicting coverage and relevance gaps in the set of sources
Some supplied entries are directly relevant and repeat the ITEP estimate, while other items in the collection are not relevant to the 2024 tax question, discussing unrelated topics or presenting non-informative content [7] [8]. The presence of non-relevant items alongside repeated citations of the same report highlights a common problem in public debate: a few authoritative estimates are recycled while newer empirical updates or alternate methodological studies are sparse in the provided set. This makes it difficult to identify methodological disagreements or alternative tallies within the supplied materials [2] [5].
6. How different stakeholders frame the numbers—and what agendas may be present
The ITEP-derived totals are frequently cited by advocacy groups and researchers to underline undocumented workers’ economic contributions; conversely, policymakers emphasizing enforcement sometimes highlight potential costs of undocumented presence. The provided projections of lost revenue if filing declines are used to argue both for protecting taxpayer confidentiality to safeguard revenue and for caution about any data-sharing policies that could deter filing [1] [3]. The supplied materials, therefore, contain both a contribution argument and a cautionary fiscal-risk argument, reflecting distinct policy agendas tied to the same underlying estimates.
7. Bottom line for someone asking “How much did illegal immigrants pay in taxes in 2024?”
Based exclusively on the supplied materials, there is no definitive, independently reported 2024 total; the best-supported figure in the collection is an ITEP-based estimate for 2022 of roughly $96.7–$100 billion, with additional analyses warning that future revenue could fall sharply if filing declines [2] [3]. To produce a precise, contemporary 2024 number would require updated ITEP-style modeling or IRS administrative data not present in the provided set; absent that, quoting the 2022 estimate while noting the lack of a 2024 update is the most accurate statement the supplied materials support [4] [5].