Feb. 16, 2025, 7:38 PM MST

NBC News

DOGE-affiliated employee has accessed IRS system with sensitive taxpayer information

The Integrated Data Retrieval System allows IRS employees to access taxpayer information.

Feb. 16, 2025, 7:38 PM MST

By Garrett Haake and Megan Lebowitz

WASHINGTON — An Internal Revenue Service employee who is affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency has accessed an IRS system that houses sensitive taxpayer information, according to an administration official.

The employee was granted access to the Integrated Data Retrieval System, which allows IRS employees to access taxpayer accounts.

The IDRS allows employees to have “instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts,” according to the IRS website. The system can be used for “researching account information and requesting returns” and “automatically generating notices, collection documents and other outputs.”

IDRS users “are authorized to access only those accounts required to accomplish their official duties,” according to the IRS website.

The person with access to the IDRS is an IRS employee who started during the second Trump administration and is affiliated with DOGE, the official confirmed. The official said that the employee was carrying out the "DOGE mission" and acting “legally and with the appropriate security clearances.”