|
The new Income Tax Act, 2025, which has just received Presidential assent, has sparked debate over provisions that allow tax authorities to access digital and social media data of taxpayers during search and seizure operations.
Central Board of Direct Taxes' (CBDT) member (legislation) RN Parbat said in a media interview recently that the Board will come out with a new set of rules and regulations by Dec 31
The government, however, has strongly defended the move, calling it an essential tool for tracking undisclosed income in the digital era.
“Our search and seizure actions are very limited in number and are initiated only when we have credible information on tax evasion. Increasingly, evidence is stored in the cloud or invested in virtual digital assets. We need access to such data to discover concealed income. A new standard operating procedure for handling digital evidence will be released shortly,” Parbat said.
He clarified that taxpayer confidentiality safeguards remain intact—no authority can disclose information unless permitted under the law. “This is not about mass surveillance. These powers will only be used in exceptional cases of search, seizure and survey,” he stressed.
|
