IRS sharing tax info with over 1,100 organizations

The Internal Revenue Service is sharing federal tax information with at least 1,124 outside organizations, but the IRS is having trouble keeping track of exactly which ones, according to a new report as the IRS comes under fire for sharing its information with immigration authorities.

The report, released Friday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, found the IRS can't readily identify all of its tax information data-sharing arrangements. TIGTA did the evaluation in response to congressional interest in identifying which outside organizations, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have access to such information. Earlier this month, in a separate report, TIGTA found the IRS had provided the addresses of nearly 47,000 people to ICE. In the new report, TIGTA noted that Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS can disclose federal tax information to certain federal, state, and local agencies for tax administration and other authorized purposes through data-sharing agreements. 

TIGTA identified 1,124 known data-sharing agreements between the IRS and external organizations that receive federal tax information, most of which support state and local tax administration. All states and territories have agreements. Ohio has the most (42) such agreements, while Nevada the fewest (four).

However, the IRS can't readily identify all of its data-sharing agreements or contracts with external organizations receiving federal tax information because it lacks a centralized database. As of March 2026, the IRS's Privacy, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure office tracked 1,094 of its 1,124 agreements (97%) in its Governmental Liaison Agreement Library but was unaware of 30 additional FTI-related agreements established by other IRS business units.

Some of the business units did not engage with the IRS's PGLD office, even though IRS internal guidance requires business units to do so. As a result, TIGTA found  30 additional data-sharing agreements involving FTI, which were not listed in the GL Agreement Library. 

"Our nation's tax system is based on voluntary compliance and a high degree of confidence that personal and financial information furnished to the IRS is protected against unauthorized use, inspection, or disclosure," said the report. "The IRS is responsible for ensuring that I.R.C. § 6103 legal restrictions are enforced when sharing FTI with external organizations."

The IRS's Office of the Chief Procurement Officer is responsible for awarding contracts that provide for the sharing of federal tax information with nongovernment organizations. But it doesn't have a way to identify contracts that allow nongovernment organizations to receive FTI. In addition, the Office of Information Technology identified 27 contracts that involve the sharing of FTI representing a wide variety of operational support, including the scanning of FTI at contractor facilities.

TIGTA recommended that the IRS's chief privacy officer and chief procurement officer coordinate to establish a centralized database to store information on all data-sharing agreements and contracts. The report also recommended that the chief privacy officer remind all IRS business units to engage with the PGLD when developing FTI  data-sharing agreements with government agencies. In addition, it recommended that the chief procurement officer develop a process to readily identify all contracts with external organizations that involve the sharing of FTI. The IRS agreed with all of TIGTA's recommendations.

"The IRS remains committed to protecting Federal Tax Information," wrote acting chief privacy officer John Walker in response to the report. "The IRS will strengthen the process to readily identify all active data-sharing agreements and contracts containing FTI."