Washington, D.C. — A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service violated federal privacy law by improperly disclosing confidential taxpayer information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement approximately 42,695 times.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found the IRS breached Internal Revenue Code 6103, which strictly limits disclosure of taxpayer data. The decision stems from a declaration by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo stating that ICE requested 1.28 million names and the IRS verified about 47,000, often providing last-known addresses even when requests were deficient.
Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote that the IRS “failed to ensure” ICE requests met statutory requirements, leading to unlawful disclosures. The data-sharing agreement, signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, allows ICE to cross-check immigrant names against IRS records.
The government is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Two court orders currently block large-scale transfers of IRS data and prohibit ICE from acting on information already obtained.
The Center for Taxpayer Rights, which sued over the agreement, said the ruling confirms unlawful disclosure practices.
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