In the long negotiation between a nation and those who live within its borders without full legal standing, the United States now proposes to inscribe that tension directly onto its most universal civic document — the tax return. The Trump administration's draft IRS Form 1040 for 2026 would require all filers to certify citizenship or work authorization status under penalty of law, a measure framed as protecting federal benefits but understood by many as extending the reach of immigration enforcement into the tax system. The stakes are not abstract: hundreds of thousands of children — most of
Trump admin proposes requiring tax filers to disclose citizenship status to IRS
An estimated 671,000 people including 309,000 children would lose Earned Income Tax Credit eligibility; 1.1 million including 574,000 children would lose Additional Child Tax Credit eligibility.
Most affected children are U.S. citizens with non-citizen parents
Mark
So the administration says this saves $2 billion by keeping ineligible people off refundable credits. Is that number solid?
Mimi
It's the administration's claim, but the actual savings are unclear. What we know for certain is that 3.8 million people filed using ITINs in 2024 and paid over $20 billion in federal taxes combined.
Luke
Right—and most of those ITIN filers already can't get the Earned Income Tax Credit because current law requires a Social Security number. So the $2 billion figure assumes a lot of people are currently collecting credits they shouldn't be, but the source doesn't show evidence of that.
Mark
Then who actually loses money under this proposal?
Mimi
The research says 671,000 people lose the Earned Income Tax Credit and 1.1 million lose the Additional Child Tax Credit. But here's the thing: most of the children affected are U.S. citizens.
Luke
Which is the real tension. You're taking credits away from American children because of their parents' status. That's the actual policy choice.
Mark
And what happens to people who are undocumented? Do they just not file?
Mimi
That's the fear. They face a choice between self-incrimination, committing perjury, or disappearing from the tax system. Some will probably stop filing.
Luke
Which also means they stop paying taxes. The administration says this prevents fraud, but it might actually reduce tax revenue from people who currently pay in.
Mark
Has the IRS shared taxpayer data with immigration enforcement before?
Mimi
Yes. Last year Treasury agreed to give ICE addresses from tax returns. The IRS handed over 47,000 addresses before a judge blocked it.
Luke
So the privacy protections the Treasury mentioned—those are theoretical. There's precedent for sharing this data.
Mark
So the real risk is that this becomes a deportation tool.
Mimi
That's what critics are saying. The checkbox gives the government a direct line from the tax system to immigration enforcement.
Luke
And we don't actually know if that will happen, because the Treasury won't say whether the data gets shared. That's the gap in the reporting.
The Pulse
- A single checkbox on a federal tax form is poised to force undocumented immigrants into an impossible triangle — confess unlawful presence, commit perjury, or vanish from the tax rolls altogether.
- The administration claims the measure could save $2 billion by blocking ineligible migrants from refundable tax credits, but existing law already requires Social Security numbers for the Earned Income Tax Credit, raising questions about what problem is actually being solved.
- Research from Boston University, Columbia, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates 671,000 people — including 309,000 U.S.-citizen children — would lose the Earned Income Tax Credit, with 1.1 million more losing the Additional Child Tax Credit.
- The shadow of last year's IRS-ICE data-sharing arrangement — in which 47,000 addresses were handed over before a federal judge intervened — gives the Treasury's vague privacy assurances little comfort to those who might check 'no' on the new form.
- Critics from the Cato Institute to the Center for Taxpayer Rights warn the policy is less about tax administration than about conscripting the IRS into immigration enforcement, potentially severing the tax contributions of millions who pay in but cannot collect.
In the long negotiation between a nation and those who live within its borders without full legal standing, the United States now proposes to inscribe that tension directly onto its most universal civic document — the tax return. The Trump administration's draft IRS Form 1040 for 2026 would require all filers to certify citizenship or work authorization status under penalty of law, a measure framed as protecting federal benefits but understood by many as extending the reach of immigration enforcement into the tax system. The stakes are not abstract: hundreds of thousands of children — most of them American citizens — stand to lose income support their families depend upon, while millions of undocumented workers face a choice between self-incrimination, deception, or withdrawal from the tax system entirely.
The Trump administration has drafted a new question for the IRS's standard 2026 tax return asking every filer — and their spouse, if filing jointly — to certify whether they are a U.S. citizen, national, or alien lawfully authorized to work. The answer, checked yes or no under penalty of law, would determine eligibility for refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit. Officials say the change could save up to $2 billion by ensuring federal benefits reach only those legally entitled to them.
The policy's reach, however, extends well beyond its stated savings. In 2024, 3.8 million tax returns were filed using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers — documents issued to those who cannot obtain Social Security numbers — by filers who collectively paid $14.4 billion in income taxes and $6.5 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes. Researchers from Boston University, Columbia University, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimate that 671,000 people, including 309,000 children, would lose Earned Income Tax Credit eligibility under the new rules. Another 1.1 million, including 574,000 children, would lose the Additional Child Tax Credit. Crucially, most of the affected children are U.S. citizens by birth — their rights full, their vulnerability real.
For undocumented immigrants, the new form presents three exits, all of them damaging: disclose unlawful status on a federal document and risk deportation; falsify the return and face felony charges; or stop filing taxes entirely. A Treasury official offered assurances that the information would carry legal protections, but declined to say whether it would be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement — an omission that carries particular weight given that the IRS provided ICE with 47,000 addresses last year before a federal judge halted the arrangement.
Observers across the political spectrum see the checkbox less as a fiscal safeguard than as an immigration enforcement instrument embedded in tax administration. For the citizen children of undocumented parents, the practical consequences are immediate: reduced income in households already stretched thin, with less available for food, rent, and schooling. The tax return, long a quiet act of civic participation, is being asked to carry a much heavier burden.
The Trump administration has drafted a new requirement for the Internal Revenue Service that would force nearly every American taxpayer to declare their citizenship and work authorization status when filing their annual return. The question appears on the IRS's draft 2026 Form 1040, the standard tax document filed by millions each year: "At the time you file your return, are you, and your spouse if filing jointly, a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or an alien lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.?" Taxpayers would check yes or no under penalty of law. A similar question appears on Schedule 3-A, used to claim refundable tax credits. The administration says the measure would prevent people without legal status from collecting federal benefits they are ineligible for, potentially saving taxpayers up to $2 billion.
The policy targets refundable tax credits—payments that often result in a refund for low- and middle-income workers and families. The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit are the primary programs at stake. Under current law, a valid Social Security number is required for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which already screens out most undocumented workers. The administration wants to apply stricter eligibility standards across the board, using rules from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a 1996 law that governs federal benefit programs.
The numbers tell a stark story about who would be affected. In 2024, the National Taxpayer Advocate found 3.8 million tax returns filed using an Individual Tax Identification Number, or ITIN—a document issued to people who cannot obtain a Social Security number, including many undocumented workers. Those filers paid $14.4 billion in income taxes and $6.5 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes. Yet research published this week estimates that 671,000 people, including 309,000 children, would lose eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit under the new policy. Another 1.1 million people, including 574,000 children, would lose the Additional Child Tax Credit. Researchers from Boston University, Columbia University, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that most of the affected children are U.S. citizens—born here, with full rights—whose parents lack citizenship or work authorization.
The practical dilemma facing undocumented immigrants is severe. They would face three options, none of them good: declare on a federal form that they are unlawfully present, which could make them targets for immigration enforcement; lie on the return, which is a felony; or stop filing taxes altogether. A Treasury official said the collected information would be subject to privacy and legal protections but did not clarify whether it would be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That ambiguity carries weight given recent history. Last year, the Treasury Department agreed to share confidential taxpayer information with ICE to help identify people for deportation. Before a federal judge blocked the arrangement on privacy grounds, the IRS had already provided ICE with the addresses of 47,000 people.
Critics view the new checkbox as a tool for immigration enforcement disguised as tax administration. David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, told the Associated Press: "It could be used as an immigration enforcement tool and that is probably the reason why they are doing this." Nina Olson, executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, said the policy is "dragging the IRS into this administration's immigration policies." The concern is not merely theoretical. Undocumented immigrants already pay substantial taxes—they contribute to Social Security and Medicare even though they generally cannot collect those benefits. The new requirement threatens to sever that relationship, potentially pushing millions of people out of the tax system entirely. For the children of undocumented immigrants who are themselves citizens, the loss of tax credits could mean real hardship: less money for food, housing, and education in households already living close to the edge.
Notable Quotes
It could be used as an immigration enforcement tool and that is probably the reason why they are doing this— David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute
It's dragging the IRS into this administration's immigration policies— Nina Olson, executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights
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