The Ways and Means Section of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill, which mainly handles taxes, would establish a five percent tax on remittance transfers; however, it would exempt remittance transfers from verified U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals. The provision would also provide a refundable tax credit for any excise taxes paid by taxpayers with valid Social Security numbers.
Breitbart News has reported for years about how migrants, both legal and illegal, have sent hundreds of billions of dollars to their home countries in remittances, which are mostly untaxed.
Then-Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) proposed a ten percent tax on remittances in 2023, and the Heritage Foundation has suggested a 50 percent tax on outbound transfers unless the sender is legal.
In 2020, migrants sent $103 billion in mostly untaxed remittances to six foreign countries, including $19 billion to China.
In January 2025, Nicaragua received $373.5 million in remittances. A World Bank report found that remittances amounted to 27 percent of Nicaragua’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024.
Further, the Central Bank of Nicaragua has acknowledged the “weight” that remittances play on the economic growth of the country. Breitbart News’s Christian K. Caruzo wrote:
According to the World Bank, Nicaragua is the third-most remittance-dependent economy in the world, surpassed only by Tajikistan and Tonga. In recent years, Nicaragua has experienced a dramatic surge in the amount of remittances received, with an overwhelming majority of the remittances originating from the United States.
Confidencial detailed that it took Nicaragua nine years (2012-2021) to go from $1.014 billion in remittances received to $2.147 billion, but then in 2022 it “grew almost as much as in those previous nine years,” followed by $4.660 billion in 2023 and a record-breaking $5.243 billion during 2024 — which represented over 27 percent of its entire Gross Domestic Product (GPD).
The Confidencial report explained:
The 2024 Annual Report clearly shows this relationship between remittances and GDP: if the 4.4 percent economic growth in 2023 (according to the revised data) occurred hand-in-hand with a 44.5 percent growth in remittances received, that of 2024 marks a decline: the 3.6 percent increase in GDP was accompanied by an increase of only 12.5% in remittances.”
“We should take fees on the remittances sent there and other countries around the world when people come to our country illegally and wire money back home, we should tax those remittances. Take that money and use it to pay for the wall, to pay for ICE agents, to pay for Border Patrol,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said during a House floor speech in November.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3
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