Internal Revenue Service employees improperly access the tax records of 30 public figures, according to a new federal watchdog report. 

The report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s office identifies 86 “suspicious accesses” by 52 IRS employees from 2022 into 2025, according to The Daily Caller.

The report follows President Donald Trump this past spring voluntarily dropping a $10 billion lawsuit, filed by him and the Trump Organization, against the IRS and the Treasury Department alleging the IRS failed to protect them from an unauthorized inspection and leaked confidential tax records in 2019, causing reputational and financial harm.

The new watchdog report, released Sept. 29, states the tax records that were accessed without authorization belonged to “United States government officials, business leaders, and entertainers.” 

The IRS’s UNAX, or unauthorized access, program "is not adequately addressing the risk of unauthorized access to taxpayers’ accounts,” the report states. 

Acting IRS Chief Privacy Officer John Walker said in response to the report that the agency has either “agreed” or “partially agreed” with seven of the watchdog recommendations. However, the IRS disagrees with a recommendation to “establish overall timeliness standards regarding victim notifications to impacted taxpayers,” arguing such standards were already established.

Twenty-two of the 52 employees identified as having violated access procedures were terminated. Others reportedly either resigned or retired before disciplinary action was proposed.

The report also states: 

• The IRS properly notified 64 taxpayers in 39 of 122 cases. 
• In the remaining 83 cases, the IRS did not notify 276 taxpayers. 
• Specifically, the IRS failed to notify 175 taxpayers of unauthorized access to their tax records due to an employee not following procedures in 42 out of 83 cases. 
• As a result, these 175 victims did not have an opportunity to take precautions to protect themselves from potential financial harm.