The Income Tax Department has also said that even if a taxpayer’s case comes under investigation, every effort will be made to maintain its confidentiality. All this information is present in the 1961 Act, it will only be repeated in the 2025 Income Tax Bill.
In the new Income Tax Bill, will the Income Tax officials have access to information such as the taxpayers’ social media accounts, bank accounts, online investments and personal email IDs? On this matter, the government has now clarified which taxpayers’ accounts will be under the strict surveillance of the Income Tax Department.
Social media accounts of all taxpayers will not be monitored
The Income Tax Department has made it clear that under the new Income Tax Bill, social media accounts of all taxpayers will not be monitored. Rather, the digital area of the taxpayers’ computers etc. will be investigated only during the raid related to the Income Tax Department.
Confidentiality will not be violated
The Income Tax Department has also said that even if the case of a taxpayer comes under investigation, every effort will be made to maintain its confidentiality. All this information is present in the 1961 Act, it will only be repeated in the 2025 Income Tax Bill.
The Income Tax Department rejected all the claims in which it was said that the Income Tax Department would have access to the social media handles, emails, cloud storage space etc. of all taxpayers.
Income Tax Department does not spy
On Monday, the department clarified about the new Income Tax Bill that the Income Tax Department does not spy on the online activities or social media accounts of any taxpayer.
An Income Tax Department official says that such powers are used only during raids or searches. Apart from this, other communication mediums like email, cloud, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram of taxpayers are also investigated when the taxpayer refuses to share the password of such social media account.
That is, under the new Income Tax Bill, the Income Tax Department will not spy on the social media accounts of all taxpayers.
