New Income Tax Rules: They will get this right under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which allows the authorities to search and seize the properties, documents and accounts of any suspicious person.
New Income Tax Rules: Income Tax Department is going to get new legal power from April 1, 2026. In case of tax evasion, now income tax officers can also investigate your e-mail and social media accounts. Apart from this, the officer can also have access to bank accounts, online investments and trading accounts. They will get this right under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which allows officers to search and seize the properties, documents and accounts of any suspicious person. In simple words, the New Income Tax Bill gives them the right to seek access to the digital assets of taxpayers.
Access to digital space will be available from April 1, 2026
If a person has secret assets, undeclared income, gold, jewelry, valuables or property on which he has not paid income tax, then the Income Tax Department will be able to investigate it through digital means.
Income tax officers can access your email, social media accounts, online investments and other digital financing platforms.
Tax evasion cases will now also include the power of “digital space break-in”, which allows search and seizure of digital data.
What will change between now and later?
What is the rule now
: Income tax officers can conduct searches and freeze bank accounts during investigations. However, they can demand laptops, hard drives or emails, but this faces legal hurdles.
What will change from 1 April 2026
: Now the Income Tax Officer will also have the right to investigate the digital space. They will get full authority to investigate computers, social media, emails and online accounts.
If someone does not cooperate in the investigation…
Income tax officers can bypass the password of his digital accounts. Can override security settings. Can unlock files and data. The new law gives them the right to do all this.
Will the rule apply to all taxpayers?
No, the new rule will not apply to all taxpayers. This rule will apply only in cases where there is suspicion of tax evasion or undeclared assets. Common taxpayers need not panic about this, but it is very important to be aware of transparency and data security. Under section 247 of the New Income Tax Bill, only limited officials will have this right. Only those officers who will be given access to digital data during the investigation will be able to investigate it. In digital data, officers will have the right to investigate emails, social media accounts, bank details and investment accounts.
