Will the Income Tax Department have access to your bank account and email from April 1, 2026? The government has revealed the truth

A post is rapidly going viral on social media claiming that from April 1, 2023, the Income Tax Department will have access to your bank accounts, emails, and social media accounts. This claim is being made in relation to the new Income Tax Act, 2025.

Amidst claims circulating online about increased surveillance under the new Income Tax Act, 2025, questions are being raised about whether tax authorities will be allowed to monitor taxpayers’ social media accounts, emails, and other digital platforms from April 1, 2026. The government has clarified these rumors, stating that such claims are misleading and false. In other words, the claim is fake.

Government clarifies the truth about the viral post

In a fact-check post on the social media platform X, PIB Fact Check stated that these claims are misleading. It said, “A post by @IndianTechGuide claims that from April 1, 2026, the Income Tax Department will have the ‘right’ to access your social media, email, and other digital platforms to prevent tax evasion. The claim made in this post is misleading.”

PIB further explained in the post that 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 right to access their private digital space.

The post further stated that these powers cannot be used for routine information gathering/processing, or even for cases under investigation. These measures are specifically designed to target black money and large-scale tax evasion during searches and surveys, and not for everyday law-abiding citizens.

Meanwhile, the tax department has clarified that access to taxpayers’ digital spaces is only granted during formally sanctioned search operations based on evidence of significant tax evasion, although some taxpayers and stakeholders have raised concerns about the scope of these provisions.