Taxes for undocumented immigrants work through the same federal system everyone else uses, with one substitution: instead of a Social Security number, you file with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) issued by the IRS. You report your income on Form 1040, pay what you owe, and claim the credits you qualify for. Federal law keeps your return separate from immigration enforcement, and the penalties for an IRS employee who leaks that information are severe enough that routine sharing does not happen.
Can the IRS Share Your Tax Return with Immigration Authorities?
This is the question that keeps people from filing, so it belongs first. Under 26 U.S.C. ยง 6103, tax returns and return information are confidential, and no federal or state employee with access to that data may share it outside the narrow exceptions written into the tax code itself.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6103 – Confidentiality and Disclosure of Returns and Return Information Those exceptions cover things like federal tax crime investigations and court orders. There is no exception permitting the IRS to hand your return to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security because you lack legal status.
The enforcement side has teeth. An IRS or other government employee who willfully discloses return information outside the authorized channels commits a felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to five years in prison, or both, and federal employees convicted of the offense lose their jobs.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7213 – Unauthorized Disclosure of Information The penalty exists to keep tax collection separate from law enforcement so people file and pay without fear of exposure.
Confidentiality is not absolute. A federal judge can order disclosure in a tax fraud investigation, and the IRS shares certain data with the Social Security Administration for wage matching. Routine sharing of addresses or filing details with immigration agencies is not authorized.
How to Get an ITIN
An ITIN is a nine-digit number the IRS issues to people who need to file a federal return but are not eligible for a Social Security number.3Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number It starts with a “9” and looks like a Social Security number in format (9XX-XX-XXXX).4Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Numbers It is a tax-processing tool only. It does not grant legal status, authorize you to work, or make you eligible for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit.5Internal Revenue Service. Topic No 857, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
You apply by completing Form W-7 and attaching it to the front of a federal tax return. First-time applicants cannot e-file the return; the whole package has to be submitted by mail or in person.6Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN
What You Have to Prove
Form W-7 asks for your full legal name, date of birth, mailing address, country of citizenship, and the reason you need an ITIN. You also have to prove your identity and foreign status. A current passport handles both in one document. Without a passport, you need at least two documents from the IRS’s accepted list, which includes a birth certificate, national identification card, foreign voter registration card, or foreign driver’s license.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 Everything must be an original or a certified copy from the issuing agency. Photocopies are rejected.
How to Submit the Application
You have three routes. You can mail the W-7, return, and original documents to the IRS ITIN Operation at P.O. Box 934, Austin, TX 78767-0934; the IRS returns your originals after processing, and you should expect your ITIN within about seven weeks, or nine to eleven weeks during the mid-January-to-April 30 peak.3Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number You can go through a Certifying Acceptance Agent, an individual or organization authorized by the IRS to review your documents, certify copies, and submit the application; you keep your originals, and the agent charges a fee.8Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agents Or you can book an appointment at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center for in-person document review.6Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN If mailing your passport or birth certificate would create real hardship, the acceptance-agent fee is usually worth it.
Filing Your Federal Return
Once you have an ITIN, you file the same Form 1040 everyone else does, reporting income, calculating deductions, and figuring out whether you owe or overpaid. You need wage statements: W-2s from employers who withheld taxes, or 1099s if you worked as an independent contractor.
First-time ITIN applicants file on paper because the W-7 has to travel with the return. In later years, once your ITIN is on file, you can generally e-file.
If you overpaid, the IRS issues a refund. As of late 2025, refund delivery moved toward electronic-only: direct deposit into a bank account, a prepaid debit card that accepts direct deposits, or certain mobile payment apps that provide routing and account numbers. Paper checks are available only under limited hardship exceptions. If you do not have a bank account, look into free or low-cost banking programs before you file.
Which Credits You Can and Cannot Claim
The credit rules are where the ITIN system costs families the most money.
The Earned Income Tax Credit is completely off the table. It requires a valid Social Security number, and an ITIN does not qualify.5Internal Revenue Service. Topic No 857, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
The Child Tax Credit is also unavailable to an ITIN-only household. The taxpayer (or at least one spouse on a joint return) and each qualifying child must have a Social Security number issued before the return’s due date. Without those, you cannot claim the Child Tax Credit or the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit
The Credit for Other Dependents is available. It is nonrefundable, worth up to $500 per dependent, and the dependent needs a taxpayer identification number but not a Social Security number. The credit begins phasing out at $200,000 of adjusted gross income, or $400,000 for married filing jointly.10Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
The practical gap is large. A family with two children who would qualify for the full Child Tax Credit with Social Security numbers might instead receive $1,000 total through the Credit for Other Dependents when filing with ITINs. Some states offer their own earned income credits or similar programs that extend to ITIN filers, so it is worth checking your state’s rules.
The Other Taxes You Are Already Paying
Federal income tax is one line in a longer ledger.
If you are on a formal payroll, Social Security and Medicare taxes come out of every paycheck automatically: 6.2% for Social Security on wages up to $184,500 in 2026, and 1.45% for Medicare with no wage cap.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates12Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Undocumented workers pay in like everyone else and cannot collect Social Security retirement benefits or Medicare coverage from those contributions. The money stays in the system.
If you work as an independent contractor, self-employment tax covers both the employee and employer shares of Social Security and Medicare: a combined 15.3% on net earnings up to the Social Security wage base, plus 2.9% on earnings above it.13Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 926 Earnings above $200,000 (or $250,000 for married filing jointly) trigger an additional 0.9% Medicare surtax. You calculate it on Schedule SE and file it with your 1040.
Sales tax applies to what you buy, with combined state and local rates ranging from zero in some states to above 9% in others. Property taxes hit homeowners directly through assessments and hit renters indirectly through rent.
What Happens If You Do Not File
Not filing when you owe creates its own problems, and the IRS applies penalties regardless of immigration status. Failure to file carries a penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax for each month the return is late, capped at 25%. Filing more than 60 days late triggers a minimum penalty of $525 or 100% of the unpaid tax, whichever is less.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6651 – Failure to File Tax Return or to Pay Tax15Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty Failure to pay adds a separate 0.5% of the unpaid amount per month, also capped at 25%.
Filed returns also build a paper trail. Tax compliance is one of the factors immigration courts weigh in evaluating good moral character, and years of filed returns document economic participation.
Filing Jointly with a Citizen or Resident Spouse
If you are married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien, you can file jointly with an ITIN. Your spouse elects to treat you as a U.S. resident for tax purposes, which lets you use Married Filing Jointly status and its higher standard deduction of $32,200 for tax year 2026.16Internal Revenue Service. Nonresident Aliens17Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
Making the election requires three things: the ITIN spouse submits Form W-7 with the joint return, both spouses sign a statement agreeing to resident treatment, and both spouses report worldwide income on the return. That last piece surprises people. Income the ITIN spouse earned in another country has to appear on the U.S. return. The joint-filing tax benefit usually outweighs the added reporting, but running the numbers both ways is smart.
Keep Your ITIN Active
An ITIN expires if you do not use it on a federal return for three consecutive years. It lapses on December 31 after that third unused year.18Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN An expired ITIN stalls your return and any refund until you renew. Renewal uses the same Form W-7 and the same identity documents as the original application, and you can submit it any time during the year rather than waiting for the next filing. Processing takes about seven weeks outside of peak season.