Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a new Income Tax Bill on February 13, 2025; now, the bill has entered a debate phase because it allows tax officials to access the digital and financial information of an individual without requiring a warrant. Accordingly, the certificates which could be accessed include email, social media accounts, bank details and trading transactions.
The critics have mentioned that this will lead to a breach of privacy of surveillance powers of an individual.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the bill was announced to modernize tax laws and offer a broader initiative for nation tax management. Notably, the union bill has been facing strong criticism from critics, including leaders from opposition parties and some civil rights groups, as they state that such laws compromise people's personal privacy.
While sharing the criticism, the social media department head of the Congress party, Supriya Shrinate, outlined that this bill will provide the authorities control over the opposition voices and suppress them too. She also highlighted that this bill will act as a government tool to overreach.
Tax officers can disable security features in order to access information reserves when they have grounds to believe there are hidden income or assets. Privacy advocates together with legal experts express serious concerns about provisions that have been drafted in the bill because such powers could be misused unless adequate protective measures are established.
A 31-member Select Committee led by BJP National Vice President Baijayant Panda examines both privacy aspects and legal congruence of the bill. The committee requires substantial examination of privacy concerns among its other objectives.
Clause 247 in the bill contains enhanced authority that parallels the existing provisions within Section 132 of the Income Tax Act from 1961.
The public has aggressively expressed their opposition to this action by designating former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai to describe it as a direct attack against personal liberties.