The IRS improperly disclosed confidential tax information of thousands of people to federal immigration enforcement authorities, according to a new report.
The agency recently discovered the mistake and is working with other federal agencies on a response, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing three people familiar with the situation.
The IRS did not immediately return requests for comment on the report.
In April, the Treasury Department, the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security finalized an agreement to provide taxpayer data to federal immigration authorities to help them locate migrants.
The move sparked the resignations of top IRS officials, including the acting IRS commissioner, Melanie Krause.
“The resignation of acting Commissioner Krause as a result of a decision to share information with immigration enforcement officials highlights concerns about the ethics and legality of the deal,” Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said at the time.
Public Citizen sued the administration on behalf of a group of immigrants’ advocacy groups to block IRS data from getting into the hands of immigration officers.
Undocumented immigrants paid $66 billion in federal taxes in 2023, according to Yale Budget Lab, the university’s non-partisan policy research center.
The initial deal to share the tax information broke with a longstanding IRS policy that encouraged immigrants to pay taxes even if they are not in the U.S. legally, assuring them that their data would be protected.
A federal judge struck down the agreement last week but not before DHS requested the addresses of 1.2 million people from the IRS.
The tax agency responded with data on 47,000 individuals, the Post reported, citing court records.
