The IRS's draft of the 2026 Form 1040, the return most Americans will file next year, adds a yes-or-no question for every filer and spouse: “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.?” USA Today reported it on September 25, 2026, calling it the first time taxpayers may have to disclose their citizenship or work-authorization status on a return. The form is marked “DRAFT—NOT FOR FILING.” Despite headlines about a citizenship question, green-card holders and others authorized to work would answer yes.
Treasury and the IRS tie the question to a new draft Schedule 3-A, released August 20, on which filers must certify they are eligible for the refundable parts of the earned income credit, the additional child tax credit, the American opportunity credit and the adoption credit. They cite the 1996 welfare law, which limits those benefits to citizens, nationals and qualified immigrants, and estimate that 200,000 to 700,000 of the 24 million people claiming the credits would be ineligible, saving $700 million to $2.6 billion.
The worry is where the answers could go. The IRS did not answer NBC4 Washington's questions about how the information would be used. Under an agreement signed in 2025 by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, ICE can submit names and addresses of immigrants for the IRS to check, and a federal judge found this year that the IRS broke the law “approximately 42,695 times” by disclosing taxpayer information to ICE; an appeals court this month upheld a ruling stopping those disclosures, USA Today reported. Immigration attorney Joseph Malouf: “This is going to make a lot of people not file their tax forms out of fear they'll be deported if they do.” Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors less immigration, said, “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.” In May, Reuters reported the IRS was weighing a different version, a check box for non-citizens and dual citizens.