IRS to Start Sharing Immigrants' Tax Information with ICE

On April 07, 2025 the IRS and ICE signed an agreement allowing it to share immigrants' taxpayer information.

In recent immigration news, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share taxpayer information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agreement between these agencies state that the purpose is to share tax information of immigrants who have final orders of removal or are under criminal investigation for immigration-related offenses. This would be the first time the IRS has shared sensitive taxpayer information for immigration enforcement. 

The agreement allows ICE to request taxpayer data, including home addresses and information about dependents, from the IRS. The agreement outlines protocols for ICE to submit names and addresses of individuals believed to be in violation of immigration laws. The IRS would then cross-reference this information with existing tax records to verify its accuracy and to locate these immigrants for enforcement purposes.

This marks a stark departure from the IRS's longstanding policy of maintaining strict confidentiality of taxpayer information. This is especially worrisome for undocumented immigrants who have been encouraged to file taxes using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). Critics argue that this agreement undermines public trust in the IRS and may deter compliance among immigrant taxpayers. ​

In 2023, immigrants without status have paid more than an estimated $89 billion in taxes according to the American Immigration Council. In order to file taxes without a social security number, many immigrants have used an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to file. Currently, there are about 5.8 million active ITINs in use today.

As of today's writing, the legal challenges against this new agreement are still pending. No taxpayer information has been shared so far while the current legal challenges are underway.

If you have any questions about this or other immigration related matters, please feel free to contact me at 201-733-0103.