Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, Sep 10: A US district court has stepped in to curb the unprecedented sharing of taxpayer data between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The temporary order halts the IRS from transferring large volumes of sensitive taxpayer information to ICE without giving the court and plaintiffs 24 hours’ notice.

The action comes after revelations that in a single day last month, the IRS shared as much data with ICE as it had with all federal law enforcement agencies over an entire year. A coalition of small businesses, a low-income tax clinic, and two unions, represented by Democracy Forward, challenged the practice in court.

The court’s rulings require the IRS to produce records of its data-sharing activities for review, ensuring oversight while the motion is pending. Skye Perryman, CEO of Democracy Forward, said the move protects taxpayers’ trust in the system, calling the interim order “a crucial step to safeguard core privacy rights.”