One of the biggest postelection debates in Washington surrounds President Obama’s legal authority to grant of legal status to undocumented immigrants. The discussion is the latest chapter in a series of events that included the Obama administration issuing in 2012 what has become known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA gave legal status to certain undocumented immigrants who were under thirty-one on June 15, 2012. Although the current debate is about expanding a similar status to others, which President Obama seems set to announce, this post covers the basics of DACA for the purpose of churches and other religious organizations hiring someone with DACA status. Specifically, it addresses which tax and other forms organizations first hiring someone with DACA status to use. In other words, it answers the questions whether someone who falls under DACA qualifies as an Other U.S. person as defined by form W-9 and,
if so, whether that person would need to meet other requirements or fill out
other forms.
The answer to the first question is yes: an
individual with DACA status meets the definition of U.S.
person for tax purposes because the person is almost certainly a resident
alien under tax law. This is because DACA status requires criteria that
necessarily would mean the individual would meet the substantial-presence test.
The answer to the second question is not for the W-9.
All the W-9 requires is the sworn statement that the signatory is a U.S.
person. But there are other items that employers need to take care of,
including Form
I-9 from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
