Trump Administration Proposes 1040 Citizenship Question to Save Up to $2 Billion
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 2
Trump Administration Proposes 1040 Citizenship Question to Save Up to $2 Billion
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 2
Summary
A draft 2026 Form 1040 would require taxpayers and spouses to certify under penalty of law whether they are U.S. citizens, nationals or lawfully authorized to work, with a similar question added to Schedule 3-A for refundable credits.
Treasury says the disclosure would help block illegal migrants from claiming benefits and tax credits they are not eligible for, potentially saving taxpayers up to $2 billion.
The proposal could newly cut off credits for 671,000 people from the Earned Income Tax Credit and 1.1 million from the Additional Child Tax Credit, including hundreds of thousands of children who are U.S. citizens, according to outside researchers.
Critics say the checkbox could turn tax filing into an immigration-enforcement tool, forcing undocumented filers to admit unlawful status, risk a felony by lying, or stop filing taxes altogether.
The move follows last year's blocked Treasury-ICE data-sharing effort; before a judge halted it, the IRS had already provided ICE with 47,000 addresses.