File Your Taxes With an ITIN? What We Know Right Now About the IRS-ICE Data Agreement

Millions nationwide have begun the process of filing their yearly taxes — including many immigrants without a permanent immigration status.

People without a Social Security number can file taxes instead using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number granted by the Internal Revenue Service, in the hope of potentially improving their chances of one day securing a legal immigration status.

Many undocumented immigrants have also been encouraged by the IRS’s longstanding promise that other government agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — will not have access to personal taxpayers’ information.

But since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, his administration has sought access to IRS data — including taxpayers’ addresses — to further its immigration crackdown and locate undocumented immigrants.

And last April, ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, secured a data-sharing agreement with the IRS, alarming many taxpayers who use ITINs to file. But earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked this arrangement — and prohibited ICE agents from viewing any taxpayer data.

“Judge Talwani’s order makes it very clear that ICE cannot rely on any of the tax-sharing agreements that it entered into with the IRS or use any information that it already received from the IRS,” said Dorothy Chang, managing attorney for workers’ rights at the Asian Law Caucus, one of the groups that took the federal government to court over the agreement.

Talwani is the second federal judge to block the IRS-ICE agreement in the past few months, but her ruling has placed some of the strongest restrictions yet on how government agencies share information with each other.

But community tax clinics KQED spoke with across California say they’re still hearing questions from filers on who has access to their personal information — and if there’s still a possibility that ICE will be able to access taxpayer data again in the future.

Keep reading to learn what legal and tax experts know right now about this rapidly changing situation.

What exactly is in Judge Talwani’s order?

In her ruling, Talwani — appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court in Boston in 2014 — was highly critical of the Trump administration’s actions.

Emphasizing the federal tax system depends on taxpayer trust, Talwaini said that implementing data-sharing agreements “erodes that foundation and undermines the public interest in a functioning tax system.”

Talwani’s order now bars DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, — and any agent from ICE — “from inspecting, viewing, using, copying, distributing, relying on, or otherwise acting upon any return information that had been obtained from or disclosed by the IRS.”

The IRS confirmed with the court that it had already shared the addresses of roughly 47,000 noncitizen taxpayers, all of which were stored in the government-issued computer of a single DHS employee. Talwani specifically mentioned that this federal worker is also bound by her order.

Does this ruling permanently strike down the IRS-ICE agreement?

No. This is only a temporary stay, which blocks the IRS and ICE from working together while the courts make a final decision on whether this arrangement is constitutional or not.

How has the Trump administration responded to the ruling?

In a written statement, DHS did not directly respond to KQED’s question on how the agency will act to comply with the judicial order.

However, a DHS spokesperson defended seeking IRS data, telling KQED by email that “With the IRS information specifically, DHS plans to focus on enforcing long-neglected criminal laws that apply to illegal aliens but which the Biden Administration ignored.”

In direct opposition to Talwani’s statements, the agency spokesperson said that sharing information across agencies was “essential to identify who is in our country, including violent criminals, determine what public safety and terror threats may exist so we can neutralize them, scrub these individuals from voter rolls, and identify what public benefits these aliens are using at taxpayer expense.”

What are advocates telling immigrants about this ruling?

Immigrant advocates have applauded Talwani’s decision. “When we file our taxes, there is really sensitive data in there,” said Chang from Asian Law Caucus.

“If we take personal sensitive information that’s protected and use it to hunt down immigrants, that completely undoes the trust that people are placing in the federal government to do the right thing with our taxpayer information,” she said.

Chang added that IRS employees have to follow very strict rules when handling taxpayer data — as established by the Internal Revenue Code, created by Congress in 1939.

These rules only allow the IRS to share information in very limited circumstances, including an audit or certain criminal investigations — like those involving a terrorist threat.

Even the president is blocked from directly accessing IRS data. In 1976, Congress strengthened the privacy rules in the Internal Revenue Code after White House employees admitted they had tried to obtain tax information about individuals who then-President Richard Nixon considered to be his enemies.

Using the IRS as a political tool would later be one of the accusations Nixon faced from lawmakers who sought to impeach him.

What’s next in this legal battle?

The Trump administration may challenge Talwani’s order in the First Circuit Court of Appeals — the next rung in the hierarchy of the federal court system — although the government hasn’t confirmed this yet.

The White House has already challenged a similar ruling against the IRS-ICE agreement by Washington, D.C.-based federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

If the administration does challenge the order, what could happen then? A higher-ranking judge could either back Talwani’s decision or overrule it, giving ICE once again access to IRS data.

But ultimately, the outcome of any future legal battle is unclear, Chang said.

However, as of now, the IRS remains blocked from sharing any personal taxpayer information with ICE or DHS. We’ll update this guide as new information comes in from the courts.

What are tax experts recommending to filers?

As the future of the IRS-ICE agreement remains unclear, community organizations that provide free tax services say they’re still hearing worries from ITIN holders — who are afraid that filing their taxes this year could come at great personal risk.

“We let them know that we’re still helping them file taxes,” said Lindsay Rojas, director of free tax help at United Way Bay Area. “And if they have any questions or doubts, they should consult an immigration attorney for their case.”

Rojas stressed that rather than there being any one-size-fits-all advice, this is a decision a person “should make based on their household” and their individual circumstances. Families living in the Bay Area can call 211 to find free tax filing services and an immigration attorney referral.

Other groups that provide tax aid confirmed with KQED that they’re also advising filers to check in first with an immigration attorney if they are concerned about their data privacy. It’s also important to mention that if someone has filed with an ITIN for several years already, the IRS has already received their personal information for past filings.

It’s also important to take into account the potential consequences of not filing taxes, said Minnie Sage, program director of San Francisco-based Tax-Aid. “A tax return is oftentimes a requirement for proof of income, with things like housing, education and federal loans like FAFSA,” she said. “It also helps avoid additional costs and penalties.”

Sandra Argueta-Bonneville, director of operations for the Los Angeles-based Central City Neighborhood Partners, said her tax team is still seeing folks come in wanting to file with an ITIN. “We really thought that these numbers were going to plummet,” she said — before adding that many community members still feel a strong responsibility to pay taxes and have the hope that fulfilling this commitment will help their immigration process in the future.

What else should ITIN holders know?

Last summer, Congress passed the massive spending and tax plan known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, which severely limited the tax credits ITIN holders qualify for.

If a household does not have at least one taxpayer who’s filing their 2025 taxes with a Social Security number, that family will not qualify for the federal Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit. Children claimed as dependents will also need to have a Social Security Number in order to receive the Child Tax Credit.

Not receiving these credits could now mean a refund that’s thousands of dollars smaller than what families previously received, Argueta-Bonneville said. “A lot of our families really depend on the credits and refunds to be able to reinvest in themselves, their children, and they’re also reinvesting into the community,” she added.

However, families filing with an ITIN are still eligible for California’s Earned Income Tax Credit — and if they have children under 6 years old, they can also receive the state’s Young Child Tax Credit.