Tax Equality for Immigrants: The Indispensable Ingredient for Remedying Child Poverty in the United States

President Biden’s American Rescue Plan aims to cut childhood poverty in half through a massive expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) programs. The success of this initiative depends on the effective resolution of two major impediments to the achievement of the poverty-reduction goal: First, eligibility exclusions for unauthorized immigrants who must file taxes with the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) because they do not qualify for a Social Security Number (SSN); and second, bureaucratic barriers that have led to a dramatic decline in ITIN use from 4.6 million in 2014 to 2.5 million in 2020. Tax Equality for Immigrants: The Indispensable Ingredient for Remedying Child Poverty in the United States, published by the Center for Migration Studies, examines a two-tiered tax system which precludes EITC eligibility for households with just one ITIN filer, even if spouses or children are U.S. citizens. The system also only permits ITIN households with children who have SSNs to claim the CTC. About 19 percent of children in poverty have an unauthorized immigrant parent, 85 percent of whom are U.S. citizens who are disqualified from EITC and whose access to CTC is contingent on their parents both receiving an ITIN and filing taxes. While there have been subsequent changes, including expanded eligibility for the second and third federal pandemic stimulus checks and full eligibility for state EITC in seven states, the article contends that more needs to be done to combat childhood poverty. Authors’ recommendations include full eligibility for all EITC and CTC programs, reforms of ITIN application and retention processes, and a national campaign promoting the use of ITINs. (Jasmina Popaja)