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Will Income Tax department access your social media and emails? Here's the truth
Will Income Tax department access your social media and emails? Here's the truth
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has issued a detailed fact-check report after a post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that, starting 1 April 2026, the Income Tax Department would have the ‘authority' to access social media accounts, emails, and other digital platforms to curb tax evasion.
Labelling the social media post as ‘misleading', PIB clarified that under the provisions of section 247 of the Income Tax Act 2025, such measures are strictly limited to Search and Survey operations. This means that taxpayers who are not under investigation or suspected of tax evasion do not need to worry.
“Unless a taxpayer is undergoing a formal search operation due to evidence of significant tax evasion, the department has no power to access their private digital spaces,” PIB said in the report.
Honest citizens won't be affected
The government media agency also said that the Income Tax Department is not authorised to access private digital spaces for routine information gathering, data processing, or even for cases under scrutiny assessment. Hence, honest citizens are not affected by these measures.“These measures are specifically designed to target black money and large-scale evasion during search and survey, not the everyday law-abiding citizen,” PIB said to assure citizens.
The fact-checking report also mentioned that the power to seize documents and evidence during search and survey operations has always existed since the 1961 Act.
Income Tax 1961 Act replaced
In August, Parliament passed the new Income Tax Bill 2025, which replaced the six-decade reign of the Income Tax Act of 1961.This new Income Tax Bill 2025, which will come into force on 1 April 2026, aims to simplify and modernise India's income tax framework without altering existing tax rates, creating a more straightforward and taxpayer-friendly law.
Speaking of privacy, the previous law allowed authorities to enter property, seize documents or equipment and access digital data. Although these provisions remain same in the new bill, it additionally allowed officials to “override” access codes to computers or digital devices to obtain information during investigations.
Although the updated bill omits explicit mention of “virtual digital space” in some clauses, the definition of computer systems includes digital platforms such as email and social media.
Tax experts believe that from the new Income Tax Bill's commencement date, officials may access digital accounts in suspected cases of tax evasion, raising privacy and civil liberty concerns, as Mint previously reported.
Source: LiveMint
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