A message being widely circulated on social media platforms claims that from April 1, 2026, the Income Tax Department will have the authority to access your social media accounts, emails and other digital platforms to curb tax evasion. The message evoked curiosity among a lot of taxpayers to know if the I-T Department will really have such powers.
As a result, now even the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check team has come up with a tweet to clear whether the claim made in the post is true or false?
What is the social media post claim about the Income Tax Department’s power to access your social media accounts?
A social media post by handle  claims that from April 1, 2026, the Income Tax Department will gain sweeping powers to access citizens’ social media accounts, emails, and other digital platforms to curb tax evasion.
Can the Income Tax Department access a taxpayer’s private digital spaces?
In a social media post of X (formerly Twitter), the PIB Fact Check Team claims that the tweet posted by @IndianTechGuide is misleading and the Income Tax Department will not get any such power. The Fact Check team tells about the instances when the Income Tax Department can take such action-
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 the evidence of significant tax evasion, the department has no power to access their private digital spaces, the PIB release states.
Can these powers be used for routine tax processing or the scrutiny of law-abiding taxpayers?
The PIB Fact Check team says that such 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, as per a PIB Fact Check team clarification.Under new tax laws, has the Income Tax Department given the power to seize documents during searches?
The power to seize documents and evidence during search and survey operations has existed since the 1961 Act.
The post also said that this measure is designed to target black money and large scale evasion, not the everyday law-abiding citizen.
What is black money?
Black money refers to income earned through illegal means or funds on which taxes have not been paid. Such wealth may consist of income generated from legitimate activities or activities which are illegitimate per se, like smuggling, illicit trade in banned substances, counterfeit currency, arms trafficking, terrorism, and corruption. For the purpose of this document, ‘black money’ can be defined as assets or resources that have neither been reported to the public authorities at the time of their generation nor disclosed at any point of time during their possession.
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