New Delhi: A social media post is going viral that claims, from 1st April 2026, the Income Tax Department will have the authority to access your social media, emails, and other digital platforms to curb tax evasion.

A post is being circulated by an X handle IndianTechGuide. Fact-checking agency PIB has refuted the social media claim. PIB has stated that the claim being made in this post is misleading.

Can Income Tax Department Access Your Social Media, Emails, Other Digital Platforms?

PIB further explained, 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 power to access their private digital spaces. 

A post by @IndianTechGuide claims that from April 1, 2026, the Income Tax Department will have the ‘authority’ to access your social media, emails, and other digital platforms to curb tax evasion.#PIBFactCheck

_The claim being made in this post is #misleading! Here’s the real_ pic.twitter.com/hIyPPcvALF
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 22, 2025

It added, the 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

PIB said that the power to seize documents and evidence during search and survey operations has existed since the 1961 Act.

How to get messages fact-checked by PIB

If you get any such suspicious message, you can always know its authenticity and check if the news is for real or it is a fake news. For that, you need to send the message to https://factcheck.pib.gov.in. Alternatively you can send a WhatsApp message to +918799711259 for fact check. You can also send your message to pibfactcheck@gmail.com. The fact check information is also available on https://pib.gov.in.