New Income Tax Bill 2025: Authorities Granted Access to Personal Digital Spaces Amid Privacy Concerns

The new suggested Income Tax Bill 2025 enables the government to monitor a lot of what people do online, hence many people find it unacceptable. Starting April 1, 2026, officials will have the authority to access personal emails, social media accounts, bank details, and online investment platforms if tax evasion is suspected.

The bill’s clause 247 says that tax officials don’t need to look for entry codes to any computer system or virtual digital area if they can’t find them. Some examples of “virtual digital space” are email systems, social media accounts, online trading and buying accounts, banking accounts, websites that keep track of who owns an item, digital application platforms, and other similar places.

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The bill says that Joint Directors, Additional Directors, Joint Commissioners, Additional Commissioners, Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Income-tax Officers, and Tax Recovery Officers are all approved officers.

Concerns have been made by lawyers about possible invasions of privacy. Prateek Bansal, a partner at White & Brief – Advocates & Solicitors, said that this rule might go against the basic right to privacy that the Supreme Court backed up in the well-known Puttaswamy case. That made him also afraid of what it could mean for people’s right to free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), especially if they think someone is listening in on their private conversations.

Sohail Hasan, a lawyer at the Delhi High Court, also called the bill “groundbreaking and highly controversial.” He warned that it gives the government unchecked power to invade private online assets, emails, and social media accounts in loosely defined situations. In the name of fighting tax fraud, he warned that this could lead to unprecedented overreach and interference, which would change people’s privacy in fundamental ways.

A big group of people in Congress are also against the bill. They say it will lead to a monitoring state. A Congress party spokesman, Supriya Shrinate, said that the part of the law that lets police ignore security settings and passwords was an attack on people’s rights and privacy online. She made it clear that government officials could look into people’s online lives just because they thought they might: they didn’t need any proof. She called this “surveillance” that should be strongly resisted.

Shrinate also warned that the income tax bill could lead to harassment and intimidation, with government agencies being able to use it as a tool against political opponents, campaigners, students, and anyone else who speaks out against the government. The tax man could look at anyone’s emails, social media, and bank accounts if they thought someone was up to no good, she made it clear. You might be watched all the time if you do this. Parts of the Income Tax Bill 2025 that let tax officials into people’s private digital spaces have a lot of people worrying about privacy breaches and power abuse.

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Some people are against these steps because they think they could lead to a monitoring state that violates basic rights and freedoms. As the income tax bill moves through the congressional process, there will likely be more arguments about how to balance tax enforcement with people’s right to privacy.