The Trump administration is considering new immigration-status questions on federal tax forms as Treasury officials move to tighten eligibility rules for certain tax credits.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft of next year’s Form 1040 that would ask taxpayers whether they and their spouse, if filing jointly, are U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or noncitizens who are legally authorized to work in the United States.

The proposed question would require filers to answer “Yes” or “No” when submitting their federal income tax returns.

The administration says the change would give the IRS additional information to ensure tax benefits are being claimed only by people who meet the legal requirements.

The proposal comes as the Trump administration continues reviewing federal programs to determine whether taxpayer-funded benefits are reaching people who are legally eligible to receive them.

Some tax and immigration experts, however, have questioned why the IRS needs the additional information. Many tax credits already require taxpayers to provide valid Social Security numbers, which generally prevents people without work-authorized numbers from claiming certain benefits.

The proposal has also raised concerns about whether tax information could eventually be used for immigration enforcement. Federal law places strict limits on the disclosure of taxpayer information, and courts have blocked some attempts to provide bulk tax data to immigration authorities.

The administration is separately considering rules that would change how four tax credits are treated for certain immigrants: the earned-income tax credit, child tax credit, adoption tax credit and American Opportunity tax credit.

The proposed Treasury rules would classify the refundable portion of those credits as a “federal public benefit,” potentially making them subject to eligibility restrictions under a 1996 federal law.

Three of the four credits already contain Social Security number requirements. The adoption tax credit, however, is available to a broader group under current rules.

Under the proposed approach, recipients of the adoption credit would have to meet the 1996 law’s definition of a “qualified alien.” That could exclude some immigrants who are legally authorized to live and work in the United States, including certain DACA recipients, visa holders, and people with temporary protected status.

Green card holders generally meet the federal definition of a qualified alien.

The tax-form proposal and the Treasury rules are separate actions, meaning the new Form 1040 question would not itself impose the “qualified alien” standard contained in the separate proposal.

Treasury officials have defended the changes as necessary to give the government better information about who is eligible for federal tax benefits. The proposals remain subject to the federal rulemaking process before any changes take effect.

The administration's broader effort comes as President Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement and eligibility for taxpayer-funded benefits central parts of his domestic policy agenda.