Exclusive-US tax officials consider adding citizenship question to tax forms

By Jacob Bogage

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is debating requiring taxpayers to disclose their citizenship status on next year’s tax forms, according to three people familiar with the situation, as the Trump administration pushes forward in its attempts to link federal agencies to its sprawling immigration enforcement drive.

IRS officials are considering two versions of Form 1040, the primary paperwork individuals use to report earnings and claim tax benefits, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals.

The first version contains minor updates to reflect changes in tax laws. The second includes those updates and a check-box labeled: “Check this box if you are a non-U.S. citizen or have dual citizenship.”

Representatives from the Treasury Department – the parent agency of the IRS – declined to comment on Friday.

Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are required to file taxes and use the same IRS forms as tax filers with citizenship. Paying taxes has long been seen as a key factor for undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status.

The Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security spent much of 2025 attempting to collaborate, sharing confidential taxpayer data with immigration officials to assist in the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.

A federal judge in November blocked the IRS from disclosing that data, and the federal government has appealed the ruling. The IRS in February admitted to the court that it had erroneously shared the data of more than 42,000 taxpayers with DHS.

(Reporting by Jacob Bogage; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Rosalba O’Brien)