Democrat bill allows tax filers to collect up to $3,600 for children without lawful residency

The current version of the Democrats' filibuster-proof reconciliation bill doesn't require tax filers to disclose Social Security numbers for their children to claim the expanded child tax credit. 

Former President Trump's tax reform law required disclosure of valid Social Security numbers, not tax ID numbers or ITINs, for dependents on tax returns. 

A spokesperson for the Tax Foundation explained to Just the News that the Democrats' reconciliation bill would change current law and allow tax filers to collect the child tax credit without disclosing a Social Security number for their children.

"ITINs could previously be used for a child to qualify for the child tax credit, until the 2017 tax law required a SSN for every child whom a taxpayer claimed for the child tax credit for 2018 through 2025," the spokesperson said, while the Build Back Better Act "proposes returning back to any taxpayer ID for a child to qualify for the child tax credit, including ITINs, beginning in 2022."

The organization also pointed to a Congressional Research Service report from 2016 which found that filers with tax ID numbers in lieu of Social Security numbers can claim the child tax credit for their dependents.

"Because the child tax credit (including the ACTC) may be claimed by taxpayers using ITINs, aliens are allowed to claim the credit even if they are in the country in violation of federal immigration law, assuming all other criteria for claiming the credit are met,” read the report.

The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the elimination of the Social Security requirement for dependents in the Democrats' bill could cost taxpayers more than $10 billion. 

Under Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, parents who do not earn income are eligible for the first time to collect the child tax credit, which is worth up to $3,600 per child depending on their age and the tax filers' income. 

The proposed change to the Social Security number requirement is among the immigration policy changes inside the nearly $2 trillion spending bill, formally titled the Build Back Better Act. The legislation also grants legal immigration status to certain categories of immigrants.

Nixing the Social Security number rule opens the door to tax filers who lack a legal immigration status receiving up to $3,600 for their children, even if they lack a lawful immigration status.

Democrats are using budget reconciliation to pass the legislation as a way to avoid effective Republican veto power through the legislative filibuster in the Senate.