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Hi. My partner has been here illegally for 3 years. He has someone else's soc sec #. He has been paying taxes for all 3 of those years. Last year his employer got a notice stating that he owed state taxes for a year prior to coming to the US. He didn't fight it and decided to pay it but didn't have the money. They wouldn't allow him to do a payment plan so they had to garnish his wages. They have been doing so for the past 7 months and he has paid it back completely plus interest. He has contact the state tax board of california and they said they only show a payment in January but are looking into it and they will refund him any difference but that it wouldn't stop until they are caught up. What can he do to stop the garnishment?? He is too afraid to go to his employer since his name is XXXXX XXXXX the name on the soc sec card.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: California Already Tried: talking to the state tax board
Thank you for your question.Unfortunately, your partner may not be in a position to stop the garnishment. In order to have the garnishment stopped, he will have to take on the Franchise Tax Board (state tax agency) to prove that the money has been paid. Keep in mind that if the FTB is looking into this, they may discover that the social security number is XXXXX used by two people who are both working full-time. If this happens, it may cause them to discover that one of these people should not be using the social security number.Additionally, there is nothing your partner can do to stop the garnishment from his employer. The employer has a duty to continue with the garnishment until the employer receives further word from the tax agency. The employer really has its hands tied. Your partner's only real recourse would be to try to prove to the FTB that the taxes have been paid. However, he risks showing up on their radar and exposing illegal work presence in California. Not only that, he may risk some sort of prosecution for feloniously using someone else's social security number. Please let me know if you have any other questions on this matter or require clarification. Otherwise please hit "ACCEPT" so I may receive credit for my efforts. Good Luck!
Experience: My law firm practices immigration law.
Greetings,I have another question about the same person. He got the above resolved btw but it was a mess.This is a new issue. Last year he had a bad bicycle accident. And went to the hospital and had several surgeries. His insurance paid 100% but the payee was out of network, so the insurance company made the check out to him instead. He was supposed to deposit the checks and then pay the hospital and other providers, however he decided to pocket the money since he didn't care what happened to his credit since it is not really his social security number but probably someone who has passed or something. Anyway, he is planning on leaving the country in June on his own accord and says he is going to use the money to make more money until he leaves. Then he says he will pay back the hospital before he leaves the country. Well, I don't believe him. My question is this - is he effectively stealing? Is this a criminal offense? Also, to make more money off of it he going to run a small business here in California out of his house whereby he will buy cars and ship them back to his home country where he will make double on the sale. So, technically wouldn't he be operating an illegal business as well as theft? The total amount he took was roughly 60K.I am concerned that he is not doing the right thing... Any advice on what he is violating would be appreciated.Thanks!
Hello and welcome back! For future reference, this would be considered a new question. So in the future, please open a new question instead of asking an unrelated question as a follow-up question. (This helps the website keep track and categorize questions more efficiently.) With regard to this individual's actions, it does not sound like he is doing the right thing. To the extent that his insurance paid him, he had an obligation to pay his provider. Technically the money was not his to keep. As such, if the insurance company and/or the hospital got wind of what he did with the money, they may be able to sue him for fraud. This may become an even bigger issue if either entity decided to bring the illegal use of a Social Security number into the mix. Yes, what he has done is defrauded the insurance company by making them think that he will be using the money to pay his providers but instead keeping the money. He has also defrauded the hospital into providing the care with no intention of paying them. Fraud can be punished both civilly and/or criminally (depending on how each entity wants to hold him responsible.) To the extent that he is using someone else's Social Security Number, that definitely has federal criminal liability (but again, the liability is only imposed if an entity wants to prosecute him.) To the extent that he is running a business that is not properly licensed and registered, that is a whole other matter that concerns the city and/or the Secretary of State. Even if he decides to leave, it is important to note that to the extent that Immigration gets wind that he has committed these actions, they may be a bar to him getting a future application to return to the country legally. Each immigration application requires you to disclose crimes and/or actions of moral turpitude, even if he is not prosecuted criminally; it is possible that immigration will view this negatively in light of any application he makes.
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