Recently a post has been seen that starting from 1st April 2026, the Income Tax Department will have the 'authority' to access everyone's social media, emails and other digital platforms to stop tax evasion.
This claim makes it sound like all taxpayers will be monitored, which is not true.
The real truth is -
The Income Tax Department cannot randomly check your social media, emails or digital platforms. The provisions of section 247 of the Income Tax Act 2025 are strictly limited to Search and Survey operations. Such operations are started only when there is solid evidence of serious tax evasion or black money.
The powers cannot be used for routine information gathering/processing, or even for cases under scrutiny assessment. These measures are specifically designed to target black money and large-scale evasion during search and survey, not the everyday law-abiding citizen.
The authority to seize documents and evidence during search and survey has existed since the Income Tax Act, 1961.
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