What is the current IRS policy for issuing ITINs to undocumented immigrants in 2025?
Executive summary
As of April 7, 2025 the Treasury Department and DHS/ICE executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that permits the IRS to share certain taxpayer information with ICE—specifically to assist investigations of people with final orders of removal or who are under criminal investigation—ending decades of practical confidentiality around ITIN filings [1] [2]. Sources report the MOU targets data on ITIN filers (including a cited DHS request covering roughly 700,000 ITIN users) and that, at least initially, DHS/ICE had not yet made requests under the MOU as of April 7, 2025 [1] [3].
1. What changed: a new MOU lets ICE ask for IRS data
The central policy shift in 2025 is an MOU signed April 7 between Treasury (which oversees the IRS) and DHS that creates a formal pathway for ICE to request return information from the IRS under 26 U.S.C. § 6103(i). Previously the IRS had long maintained strong limits on sharing tax information—assurances that encouraged ITIN filing—and the MOU allows sharing in narrow immigration‑enforcement and criminal‑investigation contexts [1] [2].
2. Who is affected: ITIN holders and related communities
ITINs were created in 1996 to let people without Social Security numbers comply with U.S. tax law; many ITIN users are undocumented immigrants but also include others who cannot get an SSN (students, certain noncitizen spouses) [4] [5]. Reporting emphasizes that millions of ITINs have been issued and that ITIN filers contributed roughly $96–97 billion in taxes in 2022—figures used by advocates to show the economic stakes of reduced trust in tax filing [6] [2] [7].
3. Scope and limits claimed by government and critics
The MOU, according to multiple outlets, confines data sharing to assistance for locating and removing people with final orders of removal or for criminal investigations tied to specific federal statutes; ICE officials told some outlets it would be used narrowly [1] [2] [8]. Civil‑rights groups, immigrant advocates, CDFIs and tax experts warn the agreement departs from prior practice and could chill tax compliance, undermine community trust, and reduce tax revenue—arguments grounded in the economic estimates of ITIN filer contributions [6] [8] [7].
4. Numbers quoted: 700,000 and "not yet requested" — both appear in reporting
Advocates and local reporting say DHS sought access to information on roughly 700,000 ITIN filers who are subject to final removal orders; that figure has been cited in several outlets [3] [7]. At the same time, a declaration by the IRS Chief Privacy Officer filed in litigation stated that “As of April 7, 2025, DHS and ICE have not requested the return information of any taxpayers pursuant to the MOU,” a statement courts and commentators note as factual but limited in temporal scope [1].
5. Practical process for obtaining an ITIN remains unchanged on paper
Sources reiterate that the statutory mechanism for getting an ITIN—the W‑7 application with required identity and foreign‑status documentation submitted to the IRS with a tax return—remains the established procedural route; an ITIN still does not confer work authorization or change immigration status [5] [4]. Available sources do not mention any change to the IRS’s technical ITIN application form or documentation requirements in 2025 [5] [4].
6. Legal contestation and advocacy response
Civil‑rights and immigrant‑advocacy groups promptly filed litigation challenging the disclosure framework and warned of legal and constitutional problems; those suits form part of the public record and underpin many critical news accounts [1] [9]. Advocacy groups argue the MOU conflicts with longstanding confidentiality protections, while government statements emphasize targeted use; both positions appear across reporting [1] [8] [9].
7. Uncertainties and what reporting does not (yet) say
Reporting establishes the MOU and its stated limits, the cited 700,000 figure, and that no requests had been made as of April 7, 2025, but details remain open: the exact operational triggers, frequency of future requests, internal IRS safeguards, and whether the MOU will materially change ITIN issuance volumes are not fully documented in the current pieces [1] [3]. Available sources do not mention final court rulings resolving the litigation as of the cited reports [1] [9].
8. Why this matters: incentives, compliance, and policy tradeoffs
Analysts and advocates stress the tradeoff: stricter data sharing can aid immigration enforcement but risks reducing tax compliance among ITIN users, which could lower revenue and complicate community interactions with the tax system; that framing is advanced in policy research and in news coverage citing the nearly $97 billion tax contribution estimate for 2022 [8] [2] [6].
If you want, I can assemble the specific excerpts from the IRS/DOJ filings and the MOU language cited in reporting, or map which organizations have filed litigation and summarize their legal arguments as presented in these sources [1] [9].