IRS drafts a citizenship question for next year's income tax returns

About 31 million taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, have been issued since the program began in 1996, according to a 2026 federal audit cited by the Tampa Bay Times ^[10]. About 5 million are active ^[11]. That means roughly 16% of all the numbers ever issued are still in use ^[1]. New numbers come in fast against that base. More than 470,000 were issued in 2025 ^[12], about 9% of the active pool in one year ^[2]. Advocacy groups say the question could affect hundreds of thousands of taxpayers and mixed-status families ^[9], which is well below the active count. If the question keeps people from filing, I'd expect it to show up first among new applicants, who have not yet built a filing record.

These workers pay tax two ways: automatic withholding from paychecks, or returns filed with identification numbers ^[15]. Both draft questions sit on the return ^[1][3]. In my view that limits the first-order effect to what gets filed and claimed, because withholding comes out of pay before any form is filed. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Florida collected $1.8 billion in state and local taxes from about 747,000 immigrants without legal status in 2022 ^[16]. That works out to about $2,400 a person ^[3]. It is state and local money, and the federal form does not touch it.

The more interesting term is in the credit section. The general question accepts "an alien lawfully authorized to work in the U.S." ^[2]. The credit section asks something different: whether the filer or spouse is a "qualified alien" under federal benefits law ^[3]. Someone with a work permit meets the first wording as written. The report does not estimate how many filers would pass the work test and fail the benefits-law one, how much child and earned-income credit money is at stake, or how much either question would add to preparers' workloads.

OMB can approve the form as drafted ^[4], rewrite a question, or drop one. Even an approved form could put off fewer filers than advocates fear, because the appeals ruling against the IRS sharing taxpayer data with ICE ^[8] narrows what the answers can be used for. Advocates in Florida expect people to stay away anyway. "People are living in constant fear, and every time something is proposed that suggests a person or family could be investigated, that fear grows," said Ana Lamb, a civil rights advocate who helps low-income families in the Tampa Bay area ^[13]. Vicky Obando, a coordinator at United for the Community in Pinellas, said questions about legal status "could discourage" many from filing ^[17]. "A person's immigration status is something that, these days, many people do not want to discuss," she said ^[18].

Ira Mehlman is spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates for reduced immigration, and he supported the question. "It is perfectly legitimate for the IRS to ask about a filer's immigration status because it is relevant to the individual's taxation status and right to work in the U.S.," he said ^[19].

I think the credit test decides where federal dollars go, while the citizenship question decides how many people file. Next year's returns ^[1] will mix the two effects together. The counter-case is that the court ruling reassures filers and new ITIN applications keep coming. If next year's new issuance matches or beats the 470,000-plus of 2025 ^[12], the case that the question deters filing is wrong.