How does Immigration Affect U.S. Taxpayers?

Finding the answers to key questions regarding the effects of immigration in the United States is a daunting task. The economic issues alone can be incredibly complex. A recent study conducted by IZA Word of Labor aims to provide data on one piece of the puzzle: How does immigration affect U.S. taxpayers?

This study defines taxpayer effects as "the additional or lower taxes paid by native-born households 

as a consequence of the difference between tax revenues paid and government 

benefits received by immigrant households over both the short and the long term."

The study's principle conclusions include:

1. In the long-term, immigration as a whole reduces taxes for native-born households;

2. educated and highly-skilled immigrants 

reduce taxes for native-born households

, while low- skilled immigrants increase them; &

3. the biggest cost to native-born taxpayers is education for immigrant children.

The full article on the study, entitled "Taxpayer effects of immigration," can be found at:

http://wol.iza.org/articles/taxpayer-effects-of-immigration-1.pdf