{
  "id": "R44420",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R44420",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 450985,
      "date": "2016-03-22",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-24T16:49:49.057492",
      "title": "Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Filers and the Child Tax Credit: Overview and Legislation",
      "summary": "The child tax credit is intended to help ease the financial burden on families when they have children. The credit offsets a taxpayer\u2019s federal income tax liability and also includes a refundable portion that may be claimed by taxpayers with little or no tax liability. The refundable portion is known as the additional child tax credit (ACTC). \nTo claim the child tax credit (including the ACTC), the taxpayer must provide a taxpayer identification number for the taxpayer, his or her spouse if married filing jointly, and any children. These identification numbers can be Social Security numbers (SSNs) or individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs). SSNs are issued by the Social Security Administration to U.S. citizens and qualifying aliens. ITINs are issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to aliens who do not have and are not eligible to receive SSNs, including aliens who enter or remain in the United States in violation of federal immigration law. 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. \nCongressional interest in the child tax credit claimed by taxpayers without SSNs increased after a 2011 report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The report found that ITIN filers whose returns were processed in 2010 claimed $4.2 billion worth of the ACTC, increasing from $924 million for returns processed in 2005 and $2.1 billion for returns processed in 2008. For returns processed in 2010, the average ACTC claimed by ITIN filers was $1,800.\nThis report provides an overview of ITIN filers and the child tax credit, and then compares legislation introduced in the 114th Congress that would restrict the ability of ITIN filers to claim the child tax credit (H.R. 192, H.R. 713, H.R. 1332, H.R. 1333, H.R. 2334, H.R. 2956, H.R. 4722, and S. 53). It also discusses similar legislation introduced in the 112th and 113th Congresses.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44420",
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44420",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy"
  ]
}