DENVER — A data-sharing agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is near, two sources told ABC News, which tax experts say could end up putting undocumented immigrants across the nation, including here in Colorado, in a "catch-22" situation.
The agreement "would allow immigration officials to use tax data to support the Trump administration's deportation plan", according to our mother network.
News of the potential agreement comes less than one month until Tax Day, April 15.
Conor Gleason, a senior attorney with the Meyer Law Firm, said some of the most frequent questions he answers for those dealing with immigration cases surround their privacy.
"In my experience, the vast majority of the clients that I represent or that I have, or people that I have consults with, pay taxes," Gleason said. "Folks ask whether it's safe to pay taxes, and up until, you know, days ago, my advice has always been, 'Yes, your information is private.' And now I can no longer give that advice."
Brian Huebsch, an adjunct professor at the University of Denver's graduate tax program and director and attorney for Ireland Stapleton, said he's wary over the potential agreement because of Section 6103 of the federal tax code.
"If, say, ICE wants to come in and get information from the IRS, there's procedures that they have to follow to get that," Huebsch said.
That section of the federal tax code requires the IRS to keep taxpayer information private with certain limited exceptions, including law enforcement agencies "for investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws," and would require court approval, according to ABC News.
"There's got to be a workaround on that statute, or somebody's going to be ignoring that statute," Huebsch said.
As for Gleason, he said the potential agreement between the IRS and ICE is a catch-22 for undocumented immigrants.
"If you pay the taxes, it goes in the positive bucket for good discretionary decisions," he said. "If you don't pay taxes, it goes in the negative bucket for having failed to do so."
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