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IRS under Trump unlawfully shared taxpayer info with immigration authorities, court rules
Reuters • • nation
Key Points:
- A U.S. appeals court upheld an injunction blocking an IRS policy that shared thousands of taxpayers' addresses with immigration authorities, ruling the Trump administration's practice violated federal law.
- The IRS had allowed ICE to obtain taxpayer address information if provided with a five- or nine-digit number in an address field, even if it was not a valid ZIP code, leading to the sharing of 47,289 records before the policy was blocked.
- The court found the IRS procedures violated legal requirements by not ensuring ICE provided actual addresses and by automating the release of millions of records without individual review.
- The ruling emphasized protections established after the Watergate scandal that restrict the IRS from sharing taxpayer information without strict conditions, aiming to prevent abuses of power.
- The Department of Homeland Security disagreed with the ruling and stated it would continue efforts to locate and remove illegal immigrants, while advocacy groups praised the court's decision to halt the policy.
