A federal judge has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service broke the law by disclosing confidential taxpayer information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement 42,695 times. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found the IRS violated IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality laws in federal statute, by sharing last known taxpayer addresses with ICE.

The ruling stems from a data-sharing agreement signed last April between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The agreement allows ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. According to IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo's declaration, the agency provided DHS with information on 47,000 people from 1.28 million requested, with most disclosures including additional address information in violation of privacy rules.

Nina Olson of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, which sued the government over the disclosures, said the ruling confirms the IRS has an unlawful policy that violates Internal Revenue Code protections. The government is appealing the case, but the ruling is significant because Romo's declaration supports the appeal decision. Two separate court orders have already blocked massive transfers of taxpayer information and prevented ICE from acting on any IRS data in its possession.