NEW YORK CITY, New York: Nearly all U.S. taxpayers would have to disclose their citizenship or work authorization status to the Internal Revenue Service under a Trump administration proposal that could also change eligibility for refundable tax credits.

A draft of the 2026 Form 1040 asks filers whether they, and their spouse if filing jointly, are a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or an alien lawfully authorized to work in the country. Filers would have to answer "Yes" or "No."

A draft of Schedule 3-A, which is used to claim refundable tax credits, includes a similar question. The questions would not be optional, and taxpayers would be required to certify their status under penalty of law when filing their returns.

The Treasury Department says the change is intended to prevent immigrants lacking permanent legal status from receiving federal benefits for which they are not eligible, potentially saving taxpayers up to US$2 billion.

Taxpayer and privacy advocates, however, have raised concerns that the information could be used for immigration enforcement.

"It could be used as an immigration enforcement tool, and that is probably the reason why they are doing this," said David Bier, 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 for the Center for Taxpayer Rights.

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

Immigrants without permanent legal status still pay taxes. A 2024 National Taxpayer Advocate report found 3.8 million returns filed by taxpayers using an Individual Tax Identification Number. IRS data showed taxpayers filing those returns paid $14.4 billion in income taxes and $6.5 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes.

A valid Social Security Number is already required to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, with the IRS checking Social Security numbers against Social Security Administration records.

"Your citizenship or residency status is not information the IRS needs to process a return. It's not even information the IRS needs to process these tax credits," Olson said. "The IRS already has Social Security data on taxpayers, as well as ITIN information. It already has what it needs to process a return."

Under the proposal, some immigrants who currently qualify for certain credits would no longer be eligible, including people covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, those with temporary protected status and temporary workers in the country on H1-B visas.

Research cited by AP estimates that 671,000 people, including 309,000 children, would lose the Earned Income Tax Credit under the policy. Roughly another 1.1 million people, including 574,000 children, would lose the Additional Child Tax Credit.

Most of the children who would lose eligibility are U.S. citizens, according to researchers at Boston University, Columbia University, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.