Trump Proposal Would Add Citizenship Question to Tax Forms

The Trump administration wants every tax filer in the country to answer a new question: Are you a U.S. citizen or legally allowed to work here?

The IRS posted a draft of the 2026 Form 1040 in late August. It asks, “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.?” There are “Yes” and “No” checkboxes for the filer and the spouse. A draft of a second form, Schedule 3-A, which is used to claim refundable tax credits, asks a similar question.

The question would not be optional. Every tax filer would have to certify their citizenship or immigration status under penalty of law to file a return. The draft does not guarantee the question will appear on the final forms, and it is not the first time this White House has tried to add citizenship questions to federal paperwork. Around 139 million people filed a 1040 last year, according to IRS data.

Why the White House wants it

Administration officials argue the question will keep immigrants who lack permanent legal status from collecting federal benefits they are not eligible for. Treasury estimates it could save taxpayers up to $2 billion a year. Earlier this year, the Treasury proposed applying benefit restrictions to refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, and the adoption tax credit.

The administration argues that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, the law that governs who is eligible for federal benefit programs, should apply to refundable tax credits as well.

The other side

Taxpayer and privacy advocates say the data could be used to help find and deport people. “It could be used as an immigration enforcement tool and that is probably the reason why they are doing this,” said David Bier, the director of immigration studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.

“It’s dragging the IRS into this administration’s immigration policies,” said Nina Olson, executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights. She called the proposal unnecessary. “Your citizenship or residency status is not information the IRS needs to process a return,” she said. “It’s not even information the IRS needs to process these tax credits.”

A Treasury Department official said the information collected would be “subject to a variety of privacy, disclosure and other legal protections.” The statement did not say whether the information would be shared with immigration enforcement agencies.

What would change

For most Americans, it would be one more checkbox. For people in the country illegally, the choice is harder: declare on a tax return that they are not authorized to be here, or lie, which is a felony. Some may stop filing taxes altogether.

Immigrants who lack permanent legal status do pay taxes. A 2024 report by the National Taxpayer Advocate found 3.8 million tax returns where the filer used an Individual Tax Identification Number. Those taxpayers paid $14.4 billion in income taxes and $6.5 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes.

A valid Social Security number, not an ITIN, is already required to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. The IRS checks Social Security numbers against Social Security Administration records for each EITC claim.

But some people who qualify for credits today would not under the new policy. That includes people covered under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, people with temporary protected status, and temporary workers in the country on H-1B visas. A research paper published this week by researchers at Boston University, Columbia University, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that 671,000 people, including 309,000 children, would lose the Earned Income Tax Credit, and roughly 1.1 million people, including 574,000 children, would lose the Additional Child Tax Credit. Most of those children are U.S. citizens, the researchers said, affected by a parent’s immigration status.

The IRS and immigration enforcement

This is not the first time the administration has tried to use the IRS for its immigration policies. Last year, the Treasury Department agreed to share confidential taxpayer information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and deport people. A federal judge halted the agreement, ruling it violated federal taxpayer privacy laws, and the halt remains in effect while the case moves through the courts. Before it was stopped, the IRS had already turned over the addresses of 47,000 people to ICE.