A group of Senate Democrats is demanding answers from the Internal Revenue Service about the sharing of confidential taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
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In a
In the case, the plaintiffs challenged whether the IRS and ICE complied with the statutory requirement that any disclosures be limited to officers “personally and directly engaged” in specific criminal investigations and whether ICE’s request adequately specified the taxable period(s) and “specific reason(s)” for relevance.
“In other words, the plaintiffs challenge whether confidential tax information was improperly requested or illegally disclosed within DHS,” the senators wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary and acting IRS commissioner Scott Bessent.
They noted that the privacy protections that safeguard taxpayer data are among the most stringent in federal law, and carry tough criminal and civil penalties for federal officials who violate them. They also pointed out that a recent exodus of nonpartisan IRS leadership and compliance staff suggests there are concerns within the agency that the administration is violating the law. The IRS had seven commissioners and acting commissioners last year.
“Former senior IRS officials, including a former Chief Privacy Officer, have stated that the IRS’s disclosure of taxpayer information to ICE under this arrangement was unlawful and inconsistent with the confidentiality protections of IRC § 6103,” said the lawmakers. “These officials have described internal objections, unresolved legal concerns, and pressure to proceed notwithstanding those concerns. Such statements, made by officials with direct responsibility for taxpayer privacy and disclosure compliance, raise serious questions about whether Treasury and IRS leadership knowingly proceeded after being advised that the disclosures were likely illegal.”
They noted that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed, enjoining the IRS from sharing taxpayer data with ICE, finding the practice violated the Administrative Procedure Act and federal tax confidentiality laws.
They demanded answers to a series of questions, asking the IRS to identify any requests from the White House or other entities asking the IRS to expand the information disclosed to DHS or ICE beyond the address information authorized by the memorandum of understanding, and the IRS’s response to them. They asked for further details about the ICE requests, the IRS’s response to them, the concerns expressed by IRS officials, the officials who were involved, and the policies they followed.
“The Treasury Department’s refusal to answer basic questions about this scheme to hand over taxpayer data to ICE is totally unacceptable,” Wyden said in a statement Friday. “Any administration official helping Trump, Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem violate taxpayer privacy laws ought to face prosecution, and anybody who’s counting on a Trump pardon to keep them out of prison ought to remember that they’re also risking civil penalties he can’t erase.”
Other signatories include Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Angus King, an Independent from Maine, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Alex Padilla of California, and Peter Welch of Vermont.
The letter’s release comes a day after
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