OBBB Child Tax Credit Immigration
The GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, or OBBB, made significant changes that will impact parents going forward.The OBBB eliminated the dependency exemption, which was suspended under the 2017 TCJA, forever.The federal child tax credit was increased, from $2,000 to $2,200 per qualifying child under the age of 17.The $200 increase applies only to the nonrefundable portion of the tax credit (so a phaseout will begin for taxpayers with $400,000 ($200,000 for single filers) in income.A Social Security number for both the taxpayer and the qualifying child.Prior to the OBBB, the child tax credit was available without the need to provide the parent’s Social Security number.
We asked two professors and authors of ALM’s Tax Facts with opposing political viewpoints to share their opinions about the OBBB basing child tax credit eligibility on the parents’ immigration status.
Below is a summary of the debate that ensued between the two professors.
Their Votes:
Their Reasons:
Byrnes: People who have immigrated to this country illegally should not be entitled to the benefits of taxpayer dollars. When we don't require that taxpayers who are claiming the child tax credit have a Social Security number, we're essentially providing yet another government handout of taxpayer dollars to illegal immigrants. That’s not what the taxpayers in this country have voted for—and the Trump administration has delivered in keeping yet another campaign promise that should not surprise anyone.
Bloink: We have never based child tax credit eligibility on a parent's immigration status. When a child is a U.S. citizen, they deserve the all of the benefits that the government has to offer—and we obviously cannot direct the needed funds directly to young children. The child tax credit is designed to ensure that parents have the resources to feed and care for their children who are United States citizens.
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Byrnes: We have to be realistic. It's always the parents who have control over the child tax credit dollars. We have no way of ever knowing how parents will elect to spend the extra funds generated by the child tax credit. People who are in this country illegally should understand that the federal government is not going to support their children if they’re unable to provide the needed support.
Bloink: It has always been--and continues to be--the child's immigration status that is relevant to whether the child tax credit is available. If a child is a U.S. citizen, their parents’ immigration status should be irrelevant to the status of benefits that are based entirely upon that child’s existence.
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Byrnes: Yes, there are programs out there that can directly help kids, whether they are United States citizens or not. The partially refundable child tax credit simply puts taxpayer dollars into the hands of parents who may or may not be using those funds for their kids' wellbeing. U.S. taxpayers voiced their opinions about that type of situation when they voted Trump and the GOP into office.
Bloink: I agree that we have no way of monitoring how a parent puts the extra funds generated by the child tax credit to use—but that’s true regardless of the parent’s immigration status. If that’s the argument we’re using to justify this new requirement, it calls into question the policy behind the child tax credit as a whole.