A new analysis from the Research to Action Hub for Children in Immigrant Families estimates that a proposed Treasury Department and IRS rule could cause hundreds of thousands of children — most of them U.S. citizens — to lose access to the refundable portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).
The proposed rule would reclassify the refundable portions of several tax credits as federal public benefits and impose additional immigration-status restrictions on who can receive them. The change would primarily affect lawfully present immigrants authorized to work in the U.S. and their families, including DACA recipients, people with Temporary Protected Status, some temporary visa holders, and certain lawful permanent residents.
Key findings:
- About 602,000 people, including 279,000 children, live in families that could lose eligibility for the EITC.
- About 1,033,000 people, including 523,000 children, live in families that could lose eligibility for the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), the refundable portion of the federal CTC.
- About 515,000 people, including 258,000 children, live in families that could lose eligibility for both the EITC and the ACTC.
- The vast majority of children who would lose eligibility are U.S. citizens: Nearly 9 in 10 children losing eligibility for either or both credits are U.S. citizens.
The analysis was jointly produced by the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development at Boston University, the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy through the Research to Action Hub for Children in Immigrant Families.
