Under a new law that will come into force from April 1, 2026, the government will have the right to monitor your digital data. The Income Tax Department will be allowed to access your social media accounts, emails and bank accounts if it suspects tax evasion.
Now the government will keep an eye on all your digital data. The government will be able to access everything from email to social media without informing you. A new legal rule is going to come regarding this. It will come into effect from April 1, 2026. According to this new law, the Income Tax Department will be able to access your social media accounts, emails, bank accounts and trading accounts. If the Income Tax Department suspects you in any way that you have evaded tax or you have undeclared income or you own any illegal property and jewelry, then they will be able to legally search your entire online history. Let’s understand this new legal rule in detail.
What is the new rule
Section 132 of the Income Tax Act of India, 1961 already gives the officers the legal right to search and seize property and account books. This happens when the Income Tax Department suspects tax evasion. Now this right will not be limited to physical places only. Under the new Income Tax Bill, the officers will also get the right to investigate the digital world. This means that if a person is suspected of tax evasion, the officers will be able to legally search his computer system, emails, cloud storage or social media accounts. For this, they will not need to take any kind of permission from you. This change is being brought to curb digital methods of tax evasion. It is believed that due to this law, income tax officers will be able to easily catch those who evade tax by looking into digital data.
What will be included in digital data?
According to the new Income Tax Bill, the definition of virtual digital space is now written in more detail than ever before. It includes digital platforms such as taxpayers’ social media accounts, bank accounts, trading and investment accounts and emails. All these will now directly come under the purview of digital data. According to reports, the bill states that the digital world is a place where people connect with each other using computer systems, internet, mobile devices, networks and emerging technologies and carry out various digital activities. This will also significantly increase the scope of investigation by the Income Tax Department.
These officers will have access
According to this new rule, the officers who will have the right to search digital information will include Joint Director or Additional Director, Joint Commissioner or Additional Commissioner, Assistant Director or Deputy Director, Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, Income-Tax Officer or Tax Recovery Officer. Under this law which will come into force next year, it will not be easy for anyone to hide tax evasion.
