Will Fear Keep Many Immigrants from Filing Their Taxes This Year?

Every year millions of lawfully present and undocumented immigrants pay their taxes by the April 15 deadline. But last year, we learned the IRS shared sensitive information from thousands of people’s tax forms with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, a new law changed the tax credits and deductions families can take, making it harder to know how much they can expect to owe.

Immigrants – including undocumented immigrants – are required by law, just like U.S. citizens, to pay taxes if they earn above a certain income. In 2022, for example, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. In total, immigrants collectively paid $579 billion in taxes that year. Still, many immigrants cannot access the programs they help pay for, as federal laws make them ineligible for things like health, food, and income assistance.

Still, paying and filing taxes usually helps people with their immigration applications because it demonstrates that they have lived in the United States and have followed the laws. Many immigrants also pay taxes simply out of a sense of duty and patriotism.

Tax season is stressful enough, but these new tax barriers and the dangers posed by illegal data sharing are an even greater burden on immigrant families. As a result, immigrants are wondering how they’re supposed to safely pay their taxes – a problem that hurts the whole country. By making tax filing riskier, the IRS will likely bring in less revenue while also spreading fear and confusion in immigrant communities.

How the IRS Betrayed Taxpayers’ Privacy

For decades, the IRS has promised that, under strict federal law, every family’s taxpayer data is private. Yet, in July 2025, the IRS shared roughly 47,000 taxpayer addresses with the Department of Homeland Security. DHS had requested 7 million addresses. After affected taxpayers sued, judges told the IRS to stop sharing this data with ICE. As of March 17, 2026, the IRS is not allowed to share taxpayer data with immigration enforcement, and DHS is not allowed to use the data it previously received.

However, families are now rightfully concerned that their privacy has been violated, and that the information the IRS illegally provided could be used against them. This has raised questions about the safety of filing taxes or applying for an Individual Tax Identification Number, known as an ITIN.

Despite these concerns, the effect of this data sharing may be limited, because:

• The government has many other ways of finding a person’s address.
• People who have the same address as when they got their ITIN would likely not be giving the government new information in the current tax filing year.
• There are no known examples of any person who has been arrested or deported because of the IRS data sharing.

How Illegal Data-Sharing Hurts Immigrants and the Economy

If a person has not been issued a Social Security Number due to their immigration status, they can apply for an ITIN. Getting an ITIN can be difficult and requires that people have (and share) their original or certified copies of personal documents with the government. Because federal laws require that all people who earn above a certain income or who are self-employed in the United States file their taxes regardless of their legal immigration status, many people go through the process of getting an ITIN. In some states, an ITIN can be used to open bank accounts or get drivers licenses. In 2022, almost 4 million tax returns included ITIN filers, contributing billions of dollars to federal and state governments.

By sharing information about people who have an ITIN, the IRS has introduced the fear that it is dangerous to apply for the number. Without it, immigrants are pushed further into the shadows, making it harder to fully participate in their communities and invest in local economies. This means they are more likely to be stuck in systems that take advantage of them.

How New Tax Laws Increase Hardships, Including Child Poverty

In July 2025, President Trump signed a law that will increase taxes on immigrants and require an SSN for more tax credits and tax deductions.

People filing their 2025 taxes who do not have SSNs that let them work in the United States will no longer be able to get the following tax benefits:

• A new deduction for money earned in tips.
• A new overtime pay deduction.
• The student debt exclusion.
• A new deduction for people over 65.

Most impactfully, 2.7 million children who do have SSNs will lose access to the Child Tax Credit because their parents filed taxes with an ITIN.

The CTC has been important in reducing child poverty and helping families remain economically stable. It has been denied to children with an ITIN since 2017, but this tax season immigrant families with U.S. citizen children will lose access to benefits that often help pay off debts or address medical costs. Thanks to the new law, many families will face new hardships.

For the 2026 tax year, the Trump administration added even more restrictions, blocking ITIN filers from education tax credits and the tax credit subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. In addition, starting in 2026, anyone who sends cash electronically outside of the United States will have to pay a new 1 percent tax on that money.

What Can the Government Do to Make People Feel Safe in Following the Law?

The government’s priority should be to ensure everyone feels safe when following the law and filing their taxes. And when they do file taxes, immigrants should be treated the same as other tax filers.

The Trump administration should publicly commit to abiding by the court orders prohibiting data sharing of taxpayer information and end its attempt to use IRS or other federal data for immigration enforcement. But that’s not enough. Congress must repeal the costly and disastrous law that created these tax increases, on top of the devastating cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP, and the slush funds for ICE and CBP. Until then, it is critical that people who help immigrants file their taxes continue to share resources that support their families.

Immigrants and their families can also take action by:

• Getting clear, reliable information about ITINs. Learn more about ITINs and how the recent illegal data sharing may affect your household by visiting NILC’s ITIN FAQ. For more comprehensive guides and step-by-step checklists, visit United Ways of California’s ITIN Resource Hub.
• Understanding your rights to data privacy. Make informed choices about filing taxes and understand what information the IRS can and cannot share by reading Data Privacy and Federal Taxes for Immigrant Taxpayers from NILC and UnidosUS.
• Seeking free or low-cost legal tax help. Contact your local Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, which can help with IRS issues including tax disputes.
• Planning your finances with confidence and care. United Ways of California has a guide to help mixed-status households: Navigating Finances Across Immigration Statuses.
• Getting trustworthy, in-person help with filing taxes. Visit Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites with ITIN services that can help you file your taxes for free, using IRS-certified volunteers.

By using and sharing these tools, and staying informed, families can take practical steps to protect themselves and navigate these changes.