The taxes paid by immigrant households in the Washington region are on par with those paid by native-born Americans, although immigrants here illegally pay less, according to a study being released today.

Overall, area immigrants pay nearly one-third of their income to the government -- at least $10 billion a year -- but those here illegally pay less than $1 of every $5 they earn in taxes, the report says. That is partly because they earn less but also because many are paid off the books and escape payroll taxes.

The study, by the nonpartisan Urban Institute, provides the most detailed snapshot yet of tax payments by the region's immigrant population, which the report says shot up from 870,000 in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2004. The income and tax landscape it reveals is unique to the Washington area, where the foreign-born population -- much of it drawn by think tanks, embassies and the high-tech industry -- is more diverse and wealthy than it is nationwide, the authors say. Here, relatively large populations of Asians, Middle Easterners and Europeans pay more taxes than most native-born Americans, helping offset the low tax payments of illegal and poor immigrants, the study found.

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