I.R.S. Agrees to Share Migrants' Tax Information with ICE

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

I.R.S. Agrees to Share Migrants’ Tax Information with ICE
The agreement is a major departure from the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to gain the trust of migrants and encourage them to file their taxes.

By Andrew Duehren
Reporting from Washington
April 8, 2025, 11:19 a.m. ET

The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to help homeland security officials find immigrants they are trying to deport, according to court records, committing to sharing information in what would be a fundamental change in how the tax collector uses its tightly regulated records.

In a court filing, the Trump administration said that the I.R.S. and Immigration and Customs Enforcement had reached the agreement on Monday and that the two agencies had not yet shared any information. Under the terms of the deal, a redacted version of which was submitted in the case, ICE officials can ask the I.R.S. for information about people who have been ordered to leave the United States — or whom they are otherwise investigating.

Federal law tightly controls taxpayer information, protecting home addresses, earnings and other data from disclosure even to other agencies within the government. I.R.S. officials have for weeks warned that the Trump administration’s plan to use the I.R.S. to help with deportations could be illegal. The top I.R.S. lawyer was demoted as the agreement came together, and was replaced by a former Trump nominee. ... “It’s unprecedented,” Nina Olson, the executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights and a former top I.R.S. official, said of the Trump administration’s plan.

{snip}

Millions of undocumented workers pay taxes, improving the financial outlook for federal programs like Social Security. The I.R.S. has encouraged them to submit tax returns using a nine-digit code called an individual taxpayer identification number. Immigration activists and tax lawyers said they had long trusted that the I.R.S. would protect the confidentiality of migrants’ tax information, which includes where people live and work, and details about their families. ... The change in approach from the I.R.S. could drive more immigrants to stop filing their taxes and seek under-the-table jobs, economists said.

Andrew Duehren covers tax policy for The Times from Washington.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/andrew-duehren

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/politics/irs-ice-tax-data-deal.html

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Hat tip, Ken White at Bluesky

Reposted by Soaring Eagle Hat
https://bsky.app/profile/kenwhite.bsky.social

Lizzie O'Leary
‪@lizzieohreally.bsky.social‬
https://bsky.app/profile/lizzieohreally.bsky.social

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Massive, unprecedented. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/politics/irs-ice-tax-data-deal.html

I.R.S. Agrees to Share Migrants’ Tax Information with ICE
The agreement is a major departure from the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to gain the trust of migrants and encourage them to file their taxes.
www.nytimes.com
April 8, 2025 at 11:32 AM

https://bsky.app/profile/lizzieohreally.bsky.social/post/3lmcsbw7dek2g

[underpants]

1. Immigrants pay a nice part of Social Security

and never receive payments back.


Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Most of that amount, $59.4 billion, was paid to the federal government while the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments.
https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-2024/

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. According to Bloomberg illegal immigrants paid $97B in taxes in 2022.

Roger Provost
‪@rprovost.bsky.social‬

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According to Bloomberg illegal immigrants paid $97B in taxes in 2022.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-30/undocumented-immigrants-in-us-paid-nearly-100-billion-in-taxes

Undocumented Immigrants in US Pay Nearly $100 Billion in Taxes
Undocumented immigrants paid almost $100 billion of taxes, underscoring the importance of border policies on the country’s tax collections, according to a new report.
www.bloomberg.com
April 8, 2025 at 11:52 AM

https://bsky.app/profile/rprovost.bsky.social/post/3lmctexgpyk2r

[Harker]

2. To see their endgame, substitute "Democrats", "liberals", or "radical left wing communists" for "migrants."

Or your own name.

[tulipsandroses]

4. Does anyone still think this is about getting rid of violent criminals?

I doubt violent gang members go through the trouble of getting a tax ID to pay taxes.
And by the way, RWers love to talk about how much immigrants are a drain on the system. They never talk about how much they pay into the system.
I don’t know how, but perhaps now is a good time for democrats to reframe the immigration argument as an economic argument.