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.
There are narrow exceptions to the prohibition on sharing tax information, and the agreement shows that the Trump administration will rely on a carve-out allowing the use of taxpayer information in criminal investigations. Immigration advocacy groups have sued to try to block any information sharing, and the Trump administration disclosed the agreement in response to that suit.
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.