Yes. Immigrants in the United States pay taxes. Federal, state, and local tax rules apply to lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and undocumented workers under the same standards that apply to citizens: the IRS looks at your income and physical presence in the country, not your immigration status. A single filer under 65 with gross income of at least $16,100 in 2026 must file a federal return, whatever visa they hold or don’t hold.
Resident or Nonresident for Tax Purposes
What you owe depends less on your visa than on whether the IRS treats you as a “resident alien” or a “nonresident alien.” Two tests decide it, and passing either one is enough.
The first is the green card test. If you are a lawful permanent resident at any point during the calendar year, meaning you hold Form I-551, you are a resident alien until that status is revoked or you formally abandon it.1Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Tax Residency – Green Card Test
The second is the substantial presence test. You must be physically present in the U.S. for at least 31 days during the current year, and your weighted day count across three years must reach 183: all days in the current year, one-third of the days in the prior year, and one-sixth of the days in the year before that.2Internal Revenue Service. Substantial Presence Test
Some visa holders don’t count their days at all. Students on F, J, M, or Q visas and teachers or trainees on J or Q visas are treated as exempt individuals, so their time here generally doesn’t feed into the 183-day total.2Internal Revenue Service. Substantial Presence Test These filers are usually nonresident aliens.
What Immigrants Actually Pay
Federal Income Tax
Resident aliens are taxed the same way as citizens. You report worldwide income, use the same graduated brackets, and claim the same standard deduction: $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household in 2026.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens4Internal Revenue Service. href=”https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-releases-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2026-including-amendments-from-the-one-big-beautiful-bill” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Filing is required once your gross income hits the standard deduction for your filing status.
Nonresident aliens are taxed only on U.S.-source income: wages for work performed here, rent from U.S. property, dividends from U.S. corporations.5Internal Revenue Service. Taxation of Nonresident Aliens Income effectively connected to a U.S. trade or business runs through the same graduated rates citizens pay. Passive income not connected to a U.S. business, such as interest, dividends, and royalties, is taxed at a flat 30 percent unless a treaty with your home country lowers the rate.6Internal Revenue Service. NRA Withholding Nonresident aliens cannot claim the standard deduction, and employers withhold extra income tax from their wages to reflect that.7Internal Revenue Service. Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens
Social Security and Medicare
Every paycheck has Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld. The employee share is 6.2 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare, with the employer paying a matching amount.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), Employer’s Tax Guide Federal law imposes these taxes on every wage earner, with no carve-out for immigration status or eligibility to collect benefits later.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax
For 2026, Social Security tax applies to wages up to $184,500; earnings above the cap are not subject to the 6.2 percent.10Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Medicare has no cap, and workers earning more than $200,000 (or $250,000 for joint filers) owe an additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax on wages above that threshold.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax The withholding applies even to workers using ITINs or lacking legal work authorization.
Self-Employment Tax
Independent contractors and business owners have no employer withholding FICA for them. Instead, self-employment tax covers both halves at a combined 15.3 percent (12.4 percent Social Security, 2.9 percent Medicare), owed once net earnings reach $400 for the year.12Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) Any payer that gives you $600 or more during the year should report it on Form 1099-NEC, and the income is taxable whether or not you get that form.13Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC Because no one withholds for you, you generally need to make quarterly estimated payments. The 2026 deadlines are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027.14Taxpayer Advocate Service. Making Estimated Payments
State and Local Taxes
Most states charge their own income tax on top of federal. Top marginal rates run from zero in states without a personal income tax to above 13 percent in the highest. If you earn income in a state that taxes it, you generally owe, whatever your status. Sales taxes hit at checkout — combined state and local rates reach above 10 percent in the highest jurisdictions — and apply to every buyer. Property taxes fund local services, and renters pay them indirectly through rent.
Filing Without a Social Security Number: The ITIN
If you’re required to file but can’t get a Social Security Number, the IRS issues an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number for tax purposes only. An ITIN does not authorize work and does not create Social Security eligibility.15Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Reminders for Tax Professionals
You apply on Form W-7, submitted together with a federal tax return, and you must prove identity and foreign status with original documents or certified copies from the issuing agency. Photocopies and notarized copies are not accepted. A passport is the only document that proves both identity and foreign status on its own; otherwise you’ll need a combination such as a national identification card, foreign birth certificate, or foreign voter’s registration card.16Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7
An ITIN that goes unused on a federal return for three consecutive years expires on December 31 of that third year. Once it expires, you can’t file or receive a refund until you renew with a new Form W-7 and supporting documents.17Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN Filing every year keeps it active.
Credits ITIN Filers Cannot Claim
Paying in and getting benefits back are not the same thing. Several major federal credits are closed to ITIN filers even when they otherwise qualify by income.
- Earned Income Tax Credit: unavailable unless you (and your spouse, if filing jointly) have a valid Social Security Number. An ITIN does not qualify.18Internal Revenue Service. Publication 596 (2025), Earned Income Credit
- Child Tax Credit: the qualifying child must have a Social Security Number. A child with only an ITIN does not qualify.19Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
- American Opportunity Tax Credit: the filer, spouse (if joint), and student all need a valid taxpayer identification number issued by the return’s due date.20Internal Revenue Service. American Opportunity Tax Credit
A small number of states offer their own earned income credits to ITIN filers, but the federal EITC remains limited to Social Security Number holders.
What Happens if You Don’t File
The IRS charges separate penalties for not filing and for not paying. Failure to file runs at 5 percent of the unpaid tax per month or partial month the return is late, capped at 25 percent. If a return is more than 60 days late, the minimum is $525 or 100 percent of the unpaid tax, whichever is less.21Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty Failure to pay adds 0.5 percent per month, also capped at 25 percent, and interest accrues on top. Filing on time even when you can’t pay in full cuts the larger penalty, and an approved payment plan drops the failure-to-pay rate to 0.25 percent per month.22Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty
Tax compliance also carries weight in immigration cases. Naturalization applicants must show “good moral character,” and USCIS considers meeting tax obligations and financial responsibility as a positive factor, while failing to file or pay counts against the applicant. Full payment of overdue taxes is listed as evidence of rehabilitation that may support a favorable finding.23U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Naturalization Keeping a clean tax record is one of the more straightforward ways to protect a future immigration application.