IRS contractor employee leaked data on 405,000 taxpayers
An employee of an IRS contractor leaked taxpayers' tax return information. The scale of the damage confirmed in February 2025 was 405,000 taxpayers, about six times the previously reported figure. The IRS sought improvements to information security, and Donald Trump filed a lawsuit in January 2026 seeking $10 billion over the leak.
Key facts
- Affected organisation
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Incident type
- Data breach
- Occurred / detected
- Not confirmed
- Scale of damage
- Tax return information of 405,000 taxpayers
- Cause / method
- Leak of tax return information by a contractor employee
- Location
- United States
If your data was exposed
- Don’t tap links in texts, calls or emails that mention this incident and offer compensation, refunds or breach checks. Check directly on the organisation’s official website or app.
Timeline
- The IRS sought information security improvements following a large-scale leak of tax return information.
- The IRS put the scale of the leak by a contractor employee at 405,000 taxpayers.
- Trump filed a lawsuit against the IRS seeking $10 billion over the tax information leak.
- Trump and the IRS requested a temporary stay of the lawsuit proceedings.
10 related reports
- IRS Data Leak Hits Home: Actions for Taxpayers in the Wake of the Littlejohn IRS Data Breach
- IRS working to improve data security after major tax return leak
- IRS still faces security challenges in aftermath of taxpayer data leak
- IRS: Contractor leaked more than 400k returns
- IRS admits anti-Trump taxman leaked data on 405K filers — six times more than previously known
- IRS Says Contractor Leaked 400,000 Tax Returns, Nearly 6 Times More Than Previously Reported
- IRS contractor leaked the tax returns of over 400k Americans and businesses
- Trump Sues I.R.S. Over Tax Data Leak, Demanding $10 Billion
- Trump, IRS Ask for Pause in $10 Billion Suit Over Tax Data Leak
- Trump IRS illegally leaked 47,000 taxpayers’ private data to DHS, inspector general confirms
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IRS official alleges personal data leak and sues
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Read on The New York Times ↗
The summary and key facts are written by AI from related reports and may contain errors. Check the original articles and the organisation’s official statements for accurate details.