IRS Shares 47,000 Addresses With ICE, Trump Floats $5,000 Payout

Hope you enjoyed Labor Day! We took Monday off too. The good news? You’re getting back-to-back newsletters this week. Your inbox missed us. Probably.

I share the 4-5 most important accounting that actually matter. I scroll so you don’t have to.

So grab your coffee, take a quick break, and lets catch up.

Today’s Ledger:

• The IRS handed over addresses.

• Trump’s $5,000 carrot.

• Microsoft went shopping. Again.

WTF of the Day🤯

IRS Gave ICE 47,000 Taxpayer Addresses

ICE asked the IRS for address data on about 1.28 million taxpayers. The IRS handed over records for roughly 47,000 people. That alone is wild. But the bigger issue was how loose the process was. A federal appeals court said the IRS policy broke the legal rules that normally keep taxpayer information locked down.

Now the court is keeping the data sharing blocked while the case continues. For accountants, this is the part that matters. People hand the IRS some of their most private financial information because they expect it to stay protected. Once that trust starts cracking, the problem gets a lot bigger than taxes.

Read the article

What’s poppin in accounting🍿

Trump’s $5,000 Check Could Become a Tax Refund

President Trump wants to send every U.S. adult citizen $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress. Sounds simple. It is not. About 240 million adults could qualify, putting the price tag near $1.2 trillion. And before anyone starts spending imaginary money, Congress would have to approve it.

Now comes the accounting twist. Sen. Ted Cruz has suggested turning the payout into a tax refund with work requirements instead of simply mailing everyone a check. Nothing is final yet, including who would qualify or how it would be funded. But if this idea goes anywhere, tax pros could end up right in the middle of it.

Read the article

Weekly Trend Chart 📊

Microsoft Bought Its Way Into Everything

Microsoft has a shopping problem. Since 2006, it has bought more than 150 companies. Skype. LinkedIn. GitHub. Minecraft. Then came the monster deal. Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the biggest acquisition in Microsoft’s history. At its peak, Microsoft was buying about 17 companies in a single year.

Then something changed. Microsoft bought just one company in 2025 and only two so far in 2026. Both new deals are tied to AI and data. That is the interesting part. Microsoft spent years buying its way into gaming, cloud, and software. Now its next shopping spree looks like it could be all about AI.

Meme of the Day😂

😂 

Want to Reach 60,000+ Accountants?

If you’re interested in getting your product or service in front of accountants, CPAs, and firm owners, just reply to this email to see if you’re a good fit to partner with Ledger Lowdown.

Did this hit or miss?

Hit reply. One sentence. Tell me what you actually thought.

We reply to every response.