I recently wrote about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) attempt to access the IRS’ main database of all taxpayer information, the IDRS or Integrated Data Retrieval System. Since then many colleagues and clients have asked what I think about this, especially as a former IRS attorney and now a tax attorney who needs to access the IDRS almost daily on behalf of clients. Herewith, more on what I REALLY think….
Trump and his allies appear to want the “unitary executive,” meaning that the President has unfettered control over everyone in the Executive Branch. Thus, Trump wants at will access to the IDRS for himself and his appointees. He is likely to fire anyone who stands in his way.
President’s Access to IRS Data Limited by Law
But Internal Revenue Code Section 6103 limits a President’s access to a case-by-case review, and he is required to report on and justify every probe he makes. To Congress, which passed the statute. But who gets to challenge Presidential disobedience of the statute? Attorneys at the Treasury Department, who likely will be fired the moment they try to do so. Private citizens won’t know about data breaches until it’s too late.
There is a lot of case law saying that individuals do not have standing to challenge the tax system solely based on their identity as taxpayers. Perhaps Congress can ask the judiciary to declare this illegal. I’m not sure that it can.
And even if somehow, a court issues an order saying that a President can’t access this database in this fashion, Trump may just ignore the court order and do it anyway. The Supreme Court does not have a police force to arrest people; it merely speaks.
Integrity of US Tax System Depends on Data Confidentiality
The integrity of the tax system relies on data confidentiality. If Trump gets wholesale access, a lot of taxpayers are going to shy away from future reporting. Does anyone doubt that Trump will selectively disclose taxpayer information of his enemies when it suits him? So, this is what I think – what I really think: giving DOGE access to the IRS’ IDRS will grossly undermine the confidentiality of taxpayer’s highly sensitive data and that, in turn, will greatly reduce voluntary taxpayer compliance.
And it does not look like involuntary taxpayer compliance is likely to increase under the current administration. Civil servants have been identified as the enemy; the IRS is vilified; the Department of Justice suffers a serious morale problem; the president wants to defund the tax-collection function. Sadly, it’s a great time to cheat on your taxes.
So, here is where we need a strong Congress, rather than a cosplaying bunch of fools. We need Congress to say “if you don’t back off on the data issue, we’re defunding the White House.” If there is going to be a unitary executive, Congress needs to step up.
February 24, 2025