IRS Shared Tax Data on 47,000 Taxpayers With ICE, Official Says

An IRS official said the agency asked Homeland Security to take steps to prevent the dissemination of any taxpayer data.

The top of a form 1040 individual income tax return for 2005 is seen atop a stack on the same at the Des Plaines Public Library in Des Plaines, Ill., on March 23, 2006. Tim Boyle/Getty Images

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shared information on more than 47,000 taxpayers with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for use in the administration’s deportation efforts, according to new court documents.

In a filing on Wednesday, IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo confirmed in a sworn declaration that IRS taxpayer data was shared with federal immigration officials under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that DHS signed with the Treasury Department last year. The memo allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to request names and addresses of persons suspected of being illegal immigrants.