US tax agency broke privacy law ‘approximately 42,695 times’, judge says
#IRS privacy violation #Immigration data sharing #Taxpayer confidentiality #Internal Revenue Code 6103 #Trump deportation policy #Government data consolidation #Watergate protections
📌 Key Takeaways
- Federal judge ruled IRS violated privacy laws by sharing taxpayer data with ICE over 42,000 times
- The data sharing specifically involved last known taxpayer addresses in violation of Internal Revenue Code 6103
- The IRS-ICE agreement was established under Trump administration to assist with 'non-tax criminal enforcement'
- The ruling is supported by evidence from IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo
📖 Full Retelling
US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled in Washington on February 27, 2026, that the Internal Revenue Service violated federal privacy laws by sharing confidential taxpayer information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement approximately 42,695 times, specifically last known taxpayer addresses in apparent violation of the strict Internal Revenue Code 6103. The judge found that the IRS 'not only failed to ensure that ICE's request for confidential taxpayer address information met the statutory requirements, but this failure led the IRS to disclose confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE in situations where ICE's request for that information was patently deficient.' This ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Taxpayer Rights, which challenged the data-sharing agreement established on April 7 under the Trump administration. The agreement, aimed at assisting with 'non-tax criminal enforcement,' was widely seen as groundwork for identifying and deporting immigrants through taxpayer data, alarming rights advocates who fear an erosion of taxpayer privacy protections that were strengthened after the 1972 Watergate scandal.
🏷️ Themes
Privacy rights, Government accountability, Immigration enforcement
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Original Source
News | Courts US tax agency broke privacy law ‘approximately 42,695 times’, judge says A federal judge has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service violated its code by giving a US immigration agency confidential taxpayer data. Listen to this article | 5 mins By Al Jazeera Staff and The Associated Press Published On 27 Feb 2026 27 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media Share Save Add Al Jazeera on Google A federal judge in the United States has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service broke the law by disclosing confidential taxpayer information “approximately 42,695 times” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement . In a decision issued on Thursday, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found that the IRS had erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people, in apparent violation of the Internal Revenue Code. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Trump says lawmakers Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib should be removed from US list 2 of 3 Columbia University says US immigration agents lied to detain student list 3 of 3 US Treasury secretary declines to rule out future Federal Reserve lawsuits end of list The ruling cited IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality laws in federal statute, which largely prohibits the disclosure of tax return information without consent. Kollar-Kotelly said that the IRS violated that law “approximately 42,695 times by disclosing last known taxpayer addresses to ICE”. “The IRS not only failed to ensure that ICE’s request for confidential taxpayer address information met the statutory requirements, but this failure led the IRS to disclose confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE in situations where ICE’s request for that information was patently deficient,” she wrote. Her finding is based on a declaration filed earlier this month by Dottie Romo, the chief risk and control officer for the IRS, which revealed that the IRS had provided the Department of Homeland Security with information on 47,000 of the 1.28 ...
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