Can income tax department access your social media and emails from April 1? Here’s what the Government says

Amid widespread claims circulating online about increased surveillance under the new Income Tax Act, 2025, questions have arisen over whether tax authorities will be allowed to monitor taxpayers’ social media accounts, emails, and other digital platforms from April 1, 2026. Addressing these rumours, the government has issued a clarification, calling such claims misleading and inaccurate.

In a fact-check post on the social media platform X, PIB Fact Check said that these claims are misleading.

“A post by @IndianTechGuide claims that from April 1, 2026, the Income Tax Department will have the 'authority' to access your social media, emails, and other digital platforms to curb tax evasion. The claim being made in this post is #misleading,” it said.

In reality, it added, that:

• Under Section 247 of the Income Tax Act, 2025, the IT department can only access private digital spaces of taxpayers if he/she is undergoing a formal search operation due to evidence of significant tax evasion.

“The provisions of section 247 of the Income Tax Act 2025 are strictly limited to Search and Survey operations. 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,” it said.

• The powers under Section 247 cannot be exercised for routine information processing or even for scrutiny assessment. The regulations are designed specifically for black money and large-scale evasion cases, not for everyday law-abiding citizens, it said.

“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,” it said.

• The power to seize documents and evidence during search and survey operations has been in place since the IT Act 1961.

Concerns regarding Section 247

The tax department has stated that access to taxpayers’ digital spaces is permitted only during a formally approved search operation based on evidence of substantial tax evasion, even as some taxpayers and stakeholders have expressed questions about the scope of these provisions.