Musk's DOGE seeks sensitive taxpayer data at IRS

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is seeking access to troves of sensitive taxpayer data at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), two people familiar with the inner workings of the plan who were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly have told The Associated Press.

If successful, Musk and his group would have access to millions of tightly controlled files that include taxpayer information, bank records and other sensitive records.

The people who spoke to the AP said DOGE is specifically seeking to access the IRS' Integrated Data Retrieval System, which enables employees "to have instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts," according to the IRS website.

Advocates fear that the potential unlawful release of taxpayer records could be used to maliciously target Americans, violate their privacy and create other ramifications.

Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that "waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it."

"DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on," he said.

Democratic push back

Democratic lawmakers are trying to fight against DOGE plans to access IRS data. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, and Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to IRS Acting Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell demanding copies of any memorandum granting agents of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to IRS systems.

"According to public reports, the White House is pressuring the IRS to agree to a memorandum of understanding ("the MOU") which would give software engineers working for Elon Musk at DOGE broad access to IRS systems, property and datasets which include the private tax return information of hundreds of millions of American citizens and businesses," Wyden and Warren wrote.

"It appears the MOU proposes giving DOGE team members access to the IRS Integrated Data Retrieval System ("IDRS"), raising serious concerns that Elon Musk and his associates are seeking to weaponise government databases containing private bank records and other confidential information to target American citizens and businesses as part of a political agenda," they added.

"Any delay in refunds could be financially devastating to millions of Americans who plan their budgets around timely refunds every spring."

January 27 was the official start date of the 2025 tax season, and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline.

The Washington Post on Sunday first reported on DOGE's plans to access taxpayer data.

The news comes as the IRS plans to lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agency's plans who were unauthorised to discuss them publicly.

Cuts could happen as soon as this week.