The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reportedly weighing plans to require taxpayers to disclose their citizenship status on future tax forms as the administration of Donald Trump intensifies efforts to connect federal agencies with immigration enforcement and anti-fraud initiatives.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, IRS officials are currently reviewing two possible versions of the Form 1040 — the standard document Americans use to file taxes and claim benefits.
One version reportedly contains only routine updates linked to changes in tax laws, while the second includes an additional section asking taxpayers to indicate whether they are non-U.S. citizens or hold dual citizenship.
Officials from the United States Department of the Treasury, which oversees the IRS, declined to comment on the reports.
Under U.S. law, immigrants — including undocumented migrants — are still expected to pay taxes using the same IRS forms as citizens. Tax compliance has historically been viewed as an important factor for undocumented immigrants seeking legal status in the future.
Reacting to the proposal, Nina Olson said, “It’s just an effort to once again terrorize people with certain immigration statuses, and it’s another step of turning the IRS into an agency that collaborates with immigration authorities rather than being an agency that enforces and administers the tax laws.”
The report comes after the Treasury Department and the United States Department of Homeland Security spent much of 2025 working on information-sharing arrangements aimed at supporting the Trump administration’s deportation policies.
Olson’s organisation later sued over the issue, and a federal judge reportedly blocked the IRS from sharing confidential taxpayer data with immigration officials in November. The government has since appealed that ruling.
Court filings also revealed that the IRS mistakenly shared information belonging to more than 42,000 taxpayers with Homeland Security earlier this year.
U.S. law imposes severe penalties for improperly releasing taxpayer information, including possible prison sentences. Trump had previously filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS after a contractor leaked his tax returns to the media. The contractor, Charles Littlejohn, is currently serving a five-year prison term.
As part of a later settlement agreement, the Justice Department reportedly established a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for alleged victims of “government weaponization.” The settlement also included an agreement signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche preventing the IRS from pursuing future tax claims against Trump, his relatives, or his businesses.
The Trump administration has continued tightening restrictions on public benefits for non-citizens. Although undocumented immigrants are barred from several federal assistance programmes, many still contribute to government revenue through payroll, income, and sales taxes.
Tax preparers across the U.S. have also reported growing fear among immigrant communities over filing taxes because of the IRS’s cooperation with immigration authorities. Analysts at the Yale Budget Lab warned that lower tax compliance among immigrants could cost the federal government about $313 billion in lost revenue over the next decade.
The IRS is also said to be exploring additional ways of identifying citizenship status through taxpayer identification numbers. Non-citizens currently use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) instead of Social Security numbers, and officials have reportedly discussed creating codes that could reveal a filer’s immigration category.
