Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

computerworld.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 22 posts

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#11

Post by vjfjfjcnf »

cuchoi wrote: post #5
vjfjfjcnf wrote: post #2

Seems like a pretty reasonable measure to increase the minimum salary to $100k since the original stated purpose of the H1B visa was to bring in extraordinary talent and expertise that couldn't possibly be found in the US. I can't imagine what any sincere, non self-serving arguments against it would be.

And non-profits? Salary is not a measure of talent.

>Salary is not a measure of talent.

No, but it is a good measure of scarcity. And H1B holders are supposed to have skills that are completely unavailable in the US.

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#12

Post by falsestprophet »

The proposal is to raise the minimum salary for H1B visas from $60,000 to $100,000 for employers with over 15% H1B staff.

There is an obvious loophole here. Large employers of Americans like IBM (or Walmart or UPS or Aramark or even Taco Bell) [1] could hire H1Bs at the lower rate of $60,000 and rent them to third parties like Infosys and Tata do today.

For context Walmart employs 2.1 million people [1]. 15% of that is 350,000. There are approximately 650,000 H1Bs working in in the United States [2]. So, Walmart alone could employ about half of H1Bs at the lower rate of $60,000.

I expect this law would have little to no effect on the total number of H1B workers employed below $100,000.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_t... [2] http://cis.org/estimating-h1b-population-2-11

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#13

Post by WillPostForFood »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #3
vjfjfjcnf wrote: post #2

Seems like a pretty reasonable measure to increase the minimum salary to $100k since the original stated purpose of the H1B visa was to bring in extraordinary talent and expertise that couldn't possibly be found in the US. I can't imagine what any sincere, non self-serving arguments against it would be.

It seems an argument against this bill is that the salary limit should be more like $125K or $150K. That is to say the criticism is: this bill masquerades as a meaningful reform but won't have much actual impact.

Right, or it just shifts the problem. Instead of replacing our $100k employee with a $60k H-1B, now we can afford to replace our $140k employee with a $!00k H-1B

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#16

Post by ci5er »

cptsyk wrote: post #4

IT companies would probably pay 100k on paper and ask 40k back from their employees. Laws like this don't stop companies who abuse the system.

I've never heard of this. How would it work? I assume that the $100K would be W2 income (a requirement for corporate sponsorship) and all of the related income taxes for both the employer and employee are paid up. How would the IT company get paid back without having to report this as something like sales income/revenue? Unless the "boss" is getting a personal cash kick-back under the table, I don't understand how this could even happen. If the "boss" is not the sole shareholder this is both extortion against the employee and embezzlement against the company - and probably tax evasion. If the sole shareholder, then still extortion and (probably) tax evasion.

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#17

Post by cptsyk »

nedwin wrote: post #7
cptsyk wrote: post #4

IT companies would probably pay 100k on paper and ask 40k back from their employees. Laws like this don't stop companies who abuse the system.

This happens with the current system already. They get found out and charged accordingly.

Yeah but did it make any difference? Fine for abusing H1B is so low that its laughable.

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#18

Post by cptsyk »

ci5er wrote: post #16
cptsyk wrote: post #4

IT companies would probably pay 100k on paper and ask 40k back from their employees. Laws like this don't stop companies who abuse the system.

I've never heard of this. How would it work? I assume that the $100K would be W2 income (a requirement for corporate sponsorship) and all of the related income taxes for both the employer and employee are paid up. How would the IT company get paid back without having to report this as something like sales income/revenue? Unless the "boss" is getting a personal cash kick-back under the table, I don't understand how th…

Companies who do this ask their employees to pay back in inr in India. Companies settle this with some creative accounting. Regulations for financial reporting are a joke in India. Google it for details.

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#19

Post by ci5er »

cptsyk wrote: post #18
ci5er wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard of this. How would it work? I assume that the $100K would be W2 income (a requirement for corporate sponsorship) and all of the related income taxes for both the employer and employee are paid up. How would the IT company get paid back without having to report this as something like sales income/revenue? Unless the "boss" is getting a personal cash kick-back under the table, I don't understand how th…

Companies who do this ask their employees to pay back in inr in India. Companies settle this with some creative accounting. Regulations for financial reporting are a joke in India. Google it for details.

Really? That's kinda ... sleazy. And against US law. I'm assuming nobody reports it because nobody wants 100% of that company's H1B visas (including their own visa!) to be revoked in the US?

Re: Issa bill would kill a big H-1B loophole

#20

Post by cptsyk »

ci5er wrote: post #19
cptsyk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies who do this ask their employees to pay back in inr in India. Companies settle this with some creative accounting. Regulations for financial reporting are a joke in India. Google it for details.

Really? That's kinda ... sleazy. And against US law. I'm assuming nobody reports it because nobody wants 100% of that company's H1B visas (including their own visa!) to be revoked in the US?

Yup. Sleazy is an understatement.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Silicon-Valleys-Bod...

Post reply on HN