Trump proposes IRS citizenship question

The Trump administration has proposed adding a citizenship and work-authorization question to the draft 2026 Form 1040, with a similar question on a schedule used to claim refundable tax credits. The proposal would also generally bar people who are not U.S. citizens, nationals or qualified aliens from receiving the refundable portions of four credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit; Treasury and the IRS estimate that 200,000 to 700,000 taxpayers could be affected. The agencies say the change would enforce federal benefit eligibility rules and could save up to $2 billion, but the forms and regulations are still drafts and the proposal is subject to public comment. Taxpayer and privacy advocates warn that collecting immigration-status information through tax returns could deter some people from filing or facilitate immigration enforcement; the administration says the data remains subject to legal privacy protections.