Below is a public comment submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on October 26, 2026 on a proposal to add a citizenship question to the main federal personal income tax form, Form 1040.
We are writing on behalf of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) in response to the recently released update to Form 1040 with this newly added question regarding citizenship: “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.?”
We oppose the addition of this question to the form. We believe that the IRS should focus on its mission of collecting taxes and enforcing the tax laws rather than pursuing other policy goals, such as immigration policy goals. We believe the following context is important:
Undocumented immigrants pay significant amounts towards public infrastructure, institutions, and services.
In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. More than a third of this amount funded programs that undocumented immigrants cannot even access, specifically $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes in 2022.1
The administration’s attempts to use the tax system for immigration enforcement have already damaged the IRS’s mission of tax collection.
Last year, the IRS and ICE entered into an unprecedented data sharing agreement that has since been ruled illegal.2 This agreement is widely expected to have a chilling effect on tax filing by immigrant families. The inclusion of a citizenship question could further undermine voluntary tax compliance by discouraging tax filing.
The proposed citizenship question on Form 1040 would likely reduce revenue as some who currently pay taxes would choose not to file.
We have already witnessed evidence of a decline in participation in the Census when testing the addition of a citizenship question.3 We have every reason to believe a similar dynamic would unfold for tax filing.
Revenue losses would be felt by state and local governments as well as the federal government because states and localities piggyback substantial portions of their tax codes on federal law.
When federal tax filing declines, state tax filing typically declines as well.
Lastly, there is no tax administration, or general tax purpose to the question.
The IRS does not need to know tax filers’ citizenship status to carry out its mission of tax administration or enforcement. Not only is this question outside the purview of the IRS, but it contradicts the agency’s overall purpose by decreasing filing among noncitizens.
We respectfully request that this question not be added to the Form 1040. Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments.
Endnotes
- 1. Carl Davis, Marco Guzman, and Emma Sifre, “Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, July 30, 2024.
- 2. “Appeals Court Upholds Order Blocking IRS From Sharing Taxpayer Data with ICE,” Democracy Forward, September 8, 2026.
- 3. J. David Brown and Misty L. Heggeness, “Citizenship Question Effects on Household Survey Response,” U.S. Census Bureau, June 2024.
