The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) mistakenly shared taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to a recent court filing. This occurred as part of an agreement to share data on immigrants, involving cross-verification of tax records. The IRS provided address information for less than 5% of the individuals requested by ICE, potentially violating privacy rules designed to protect sensitive data.

This data-sharing agreement, signed last April, allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to submit names and addresses of immigrants to the IRS for verification. The IRS was only able to verify approximately 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested. Following the discovery of the error, the Treasury Department notified DHS and requested corrective action. This situation has led to ongoing litigation.

Advocacy groups are concerned that the unlawful release of taxpayer records could lead to privacy violations and potential targeting of individuals. Public Citizen, which filed a lawsuit against the Treasury and DHS, stated that this breach of confidential information was a key reason for their legal action. The unauthorized sharing of data creates chaos, potentially endangering lives, according to Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen.

Previously, a Massachusetts federal court ordered the IRS to cease sharing residential addresses with ICE, and another court blocked the IRS from sharing information with DHS. Tom Bowman, policy counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology, emphasized that the improper sharing of taxpayer data is unsafe and unlawful. Serious criminal penalties could be involved for such actions.