New Income Tax Bill Proposes To Allow IT Officers To Access Social Media, E-mail Accounts Of Assessees During Scrutiny

Recently, the new Income Tax Bill 2025 was introduced in Parliament. Although touted as a step to make Income tax law in India simpler, the Bill contains some provisions which may disturb taxpayers by infringing on their right to privacy.

One such provision in the new Bill would allow the Income tax department to access the email, trading account, social media profiles and other personal data of assesses during tax investigation. However, it has been clarified that before the law is enacted, a committee will review it.

Such a provision causes great concern as it allows the infringement into "virtual digital space" of the assessee by extending the scope of the tax probe.

So far, according to the old law, the tax officer has the right to demand access to laptops, hard drives and emails, but has no right to demand passwords of any social media account.

In this new bill introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, it has been clarified that tax officials can demand access to digital space, and if the taxpayer refuses, they will have the right to bypass passwords, as well as overriding security settings and will also get the right to unlock the files.

From 2026, in some special cases, the department will also have the right to reach email, social media, bank details and investment accounts if an assessee is suspected of tax evasion or not paying tax on declared assets under clause 247 of this Bill.