Advocacy group helps illegal immigrants get tax refunds, even those with bogus social security cards

A Manhattan group is helping illegal immigrants recoup unclaimed state tax refunds - even if they used fake Social Security numbers to work.

The Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project got back thousands for a dozen undocumented New Yorkers who overpaid.

One bodega worker from Jackson Heights had been paying taxes since 2002 but never got a refund - until the group helped him get back $670 from his 2008 return.

"It really helped - we have two young kids," said his wife, who says they pay taxes because "it's the right thing to do."

Thousands more could be due a windfall from the Department of Taxation and Finance.

"We've been getting calls from people who say they've been filing taxes for more than 10 years, and they've never gotten a refund," said Deyanira Del Rio, the advocacy group's associate director.

Since 1996, a growing number of undocumented immigrants have filed taxes using a special ID number, without alerting immigration officials.

They usually get federal refunds, but state paybacks can be held up because the tax department flags documents that have mismatched ID information.

The state demanded documents from immigrants who filed without W-2s or with fake Social Security numbers, Del Rio said.

The tax department said it is working with Del Rio's group to identify taxpayers who are owed money and process their refunds, but added that most of the refunds requested by immigrants are automatically approved.

Verenda Smith, interim executive director of the Federation of Tax Administrators, notes that stealing a Social Security number is not a victimless crime.

"The person whose number is stolen ends up not being able to file a return, not being able to file electronically - getting notices from the IRS that you have unreported income. ... It's a massive headache," Smith said.

But Del Rio says most illegal immigrants use numbers that are made up and don't swipe someone's identity. Either way, labor laws protect all workers - undocumented or not.

"Like everyone else, they're still entitled to their refunds," she said.