DC Circuit Rules IRS-ICE Tax Data Sharing Unlawful
The DC Circuit upheld a ruling blocking IRS from sharing taxpayer data with ICE.
Why it matters: Government data sharing is constrained by this decision, protecting immigrant privacy and impacting immigration enforcement. It highlights strict legal limits on taxpayer data disclosure under federal law.
- On Sept. 8, 2026, the DC Circuit upheld an injunction barring IRS from sharing data with ICE.
- IRS disclosed addresses to ICE 42,695 times, violating Internal Revenue Code §6103.
- ICE requested info on 1.28 million taxpayers; IRS transmitted 47,489 matched records to ICE.
- Court found IRS failed to require ICE to justify data requests as legally necessary.
On September 8, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court's injunction stopping the IRS from sharing taxpayer information with ICE. This ruling emphasizes the protections of Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, which guards taxpayer confidentiality.
The case stems from an April 2025 agreement between the Treasury and Homeland Security departments that allowed ICE to submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants for verification against tax records. ICE submitted data requests covering about 1.28 million taxpayers, leading to IRS matching and sending 47,489 records of taxpayer addresses to ICE.
The court ruled that these disclosures—occurring 42,695 times—violated the law because the IRS did not require ICE to provide a "specific reason" that the return information was relevant to a qualifying investigation, as mandated by the statute. Judge Cornelia Pillard noted this failure as a key legal flaw.
According to Nandan Joshi of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, the court's decision underscores that noncitizens have the same privacy rights in their tax returns as any taxpayer. The ruling sets a legal precedent restricting how government agencies can share sensitive taxpayer data, especially in immigration enforcement contexts.
While the ruling halts this data sharing practice, details on how the IRS and ICE will revise their policies or address past violations are not yet public.
By the numbers:
- 42,695 — instances of IRS sharing taxpayer addresses with ICE violating confidentiality rules
- 1.28 million — taxpayer records ICE requested from IRS for cross-verification
- 47,489 — records matched and transmitted by IRS to ICE
What's next: Watch for updates from IRS and ICE on policy changes and compliance steps following the court ruling.