What percentage of ITIN filers receive tax refunds or use refundable credits like the EITC or Child Tax Credit?

1. What the data gap looks like — “We don’t have a clean percentage”

No source in the provided set reports a definitive share of ITIN filers who receive refunds or refundable credits; the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and NILC materials highlight an “ITIN filer data gap” and call attention to limited disaggregated statistics for immigrant-inclusive tax policy ^{[5] [1]}. TIGTA and IRS material document program administration and counts of filings but do not synthesize a percent that receive refunds or specific refundable credits ^{[6] [7]}.

2. How many returns include ITINs — scale context

The National Immigration Law Center notes that in 2019 more than 2.5 million returns included ITIN filers as primary or secondary taxpayers, with those returns accounting for billions in net contributions — a helpful scale figure but not a refund-rate statistic ^[1]. TIGTA and IRS materials reiterate that ITINs are issued for people with federal tax filing requirements but stop short of presenting a refund/credit split by ITIN status ^{[6] [7]}.

3. Which refundable credits ITIN filers can and cannot claim — the rules that determine refunds

IRS guidance and IRS reminders for tax professionals make clear that primary taxpayers or spouses with ITINs are ineligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), even if dependents have SSNs; that rule alone excludes many ITIN households from the largest refundable federal low-income credit ^[2]. For the Child Tax Credit (CTC), ITIN filers can claim the benefit only if the child claimed has a valid SSN; otherwise, ITIN filers may still be eligible for other, nonrefundable dependent credits or lesser refundable options in some cases ^{[3] [4]}.

4. State variation and workarounds — refunds can come from state credits

Several sources stress that state EITCs and other refundable programs create important variation: some states explicitly allow ITIN holders to claim state-level EITCs or other refundable credits, and states have expanded those programs since 2021 — meaning ITIN filers may get refundable benefits at the state level even when federal rules bar the federal EITC ^{[5] [1]}. ITEP’s reporting shows states differ widely in generosity and eligibility, so refund incidence among ITIN filers will vary geographically ^[5].

5. Typical refundable-credit pathways for ITIN filers — practical examples

Advocacy and tax-help sites outline the credits ITIN filers commonly use: ITIN holders can often claim the Additional Child Tax Credit or parts of the Child Tax Credit when dependents have SSNs, the American Opportunity Tax Credit (with a refundable portion in some cases), Premium Tax Credit, and certain state refundable credits — but eligibility and refundable amounts hinge on SSNs, income thresholds, and whether filers are the primary or secondary taxpayer ^{[4] [3] [8]}.

6. Why you won’t find a single percentage — measurement and legal limits

Sources point to several reasons for the absence of a clear percent: (a) federal ineligibility rules (EITC/CTC depend on SSNs and ITIN status) change the universe of eligible refund recipients ^{[2] [3]}; (b) data are not consistently disaggregated by ITIN status across federal and state filings, which creates the “ITIN filer data gap” flagged by ITEP and NILC ^{[5] [1]}; and (c) state credit policies diverge, so national aggregation would mask large local differences ^[5].

7. What different stakeholders emphasize — competing perspectives

Immigrant-rights groups (e.g., NILC) and tax-help organizations emphasize that many ITIN filers do file and pay taxes and that inclusion in state credits matters to low-income households ^{[1] [8]}. The IRS materials emphasize strict legal eligibility rules and administrative details (renewal, mismatches, and ineligibility for EITC when primary taxpayer/spouse has ITINs) that constrain who can receive refundable federal credits ^{[2] [9]}.

8. What you can do to get a closer estimate

To approximate a percentage, analysts would need disaggregated IRS filing data showing refunds/credits by taxpayer TIN type plus state-level credit claims; available sources do not supply that breakdown ^{[6] [5]}. For practical household guidance, tax-assistance organizations and state tax agencies listed in these sources are the best immediate references for whether a particular ITIN filer can expect a refund or specific refundable credit ^{[8] [1]}.

Limitations: available sources do not present a national percentage of ITIN filers receiving refunds or specific refundable credits; all factual assertions above are drawn from the cited IRS, NILC, ITEP, TIGTA, and tax-help materials ^{[7] [1] [5] [6] [2] [3] [4]}.