Judge finds IRS illegally shared taxpayer data with ICE 42,000 times

The Trump administration breached IRS regulations by handing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) secret taxpayer details, a court in Washington, D.C., determined on Thursday.

In February 2025, the nonprofit Center for Taxpayer Rights, alongside two unions, filed a lawsuit amid the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) initiative "to gain entry to highly sensitive information systems and overhaul several federal bodies."

Following this, the Trump administration largely ceased the utilisation of DOGE personnel within government entities. 

The case itself is advancing on different paths after US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, nominated by Bill Clinton, halted the more extensive data-sharing setup between ICE and DOGE in late November 2025.

The federal authorities are appealing the district court's temporary order while awaiting review at the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Meanwhile, the lower court continues to address the core aspects of the case.

As the appeal is underway, the district court lacks the power to offer additional remedies. 

On Thursday, the judge issued a preliminary ruling indicating to the parties that the infractions allegedly committed by the IRS could be relevant for future records.

"[T]he IRS probably committed multiple breaches," Kollar-Kotelly notes in a 13-page memorandum opinion and order.

According to the pertinent part of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), it is mandatory for the IRS to verify that an agency's request for tax return details includes specific components — such as each taxpayer's name and address. ICE did not adhere to this procedure.

With over 47,000 such inquiries, ICE failed to comply with the standards most of the time, the court observed. 

Rather, ICE used taxpayer identification numbers (TIN) along with names. Yet, the IRS still went ahead and provided the requested data.