New Trump proposal would require tax filers to disclose citizenship status to IRS

The Trump administration wants every person filing a federal income tax return to state their citizenship or work authorization status to the IRS, under a change proposed for the 2026 Form 1040. Officials say the added question would keep immigrants without permanent legal status from receiving benefits they cannot lawfully claim, saving up to $2 billion. Advocates fear the data could aid deportations, and David Bier of the Cato Institute said enforcement is probably the motive, according to PBS NewsHour.

The IRS released the draft in late August, and a companion draft, Schedule 3-A, for refundable credits carries a comparable query. Answering is mandatory, under penalty of law. Undocumented filers must disclose their status or give a false answer, which is a felony. A Treasury official said the data would have legal protections but did not say whether immigration agencies could receive it.

Nina Olson of the Center for Taxpayer Rights called the change unneeded, noting that the IRS already checks Social Security numbers for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Researchers estimate 671,000 people would lose that credit and 1.1 million the Additional Child Tax Credit, many of them citizen children. A judge halted a data-sharing deal with ICE.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →