US Judge Blocks IRS Sharing of Confidential Taxpayer Address Information With ICE

Plaintiffs have shown that the IRS committed multiple violations of Internal Revenue Code Section 6103(i)(2)

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from sharing confidential taxpayer address information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for use in civil immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled on November 21, 2025, that the data-sharing agreement was unlawful because it violated federal law protecting taxpayer confidentiality and procedures. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by civil rights groups, including the Center for Taxpayer Rights. 

Key details of the ruling:

• Violations: Judge Kollar-Kotelly found the IRS's disclosure of taxpayer addresses to ICE on August 7, 2025, was unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and Internal Revenue Code Section 6103(i)(2).
• Arbitrary and Capricious: The judge stated that the IRS failed to provide a reasoned explanation for its new policy and did not consider the reliance interests of taxpayers on a long-standing policy of strict confidentiality.
• Questionable Justification: The ruling found ICE's justification for needing the data suspicious, including its claim that one agent was personally overseeing hundreds of thousands of criminal matters.
• Relief Granted: The injunction prevents the IRS and the Department of the Treasury from disclosing taxpayer information to the Department of Homeland Security and its components, including ICE, under the contested policy. The judge ordered the IRS to notify ICE that the data it previously disclosed must be returned or made "undisclosable".
• Background: The data-sharing policy was part of the Trump-Vance administration's immigration enforcement efforts. Concerns over the agreement had previously prompted several high-level IRS officials to resign. Earlier in 2025, a different federal judge had allowed a similar, though narrower, data-sharing agreement to proceed