The new Income Tax Bill prescribes the existing process for tax authorities to gain access to the digital space or a computer device only during search and survey operations. The official rejected claims made in some reports and opinion pieces that the tax authorities have been granted \”additional\” powers to breach the passwords of electronic records. The powers for such a coercive action \”already existed\” in the 1961 Act, and these have only been reiterated in the Income tax Bill of 2025. \”The tax department does not snoop or make a back door entry against any individual or entity through their social media accounts,\” the first official said. The government has brought the new Bill in order to change the decades-old I-T Act of 1961 with an aim to make the bulky direct tax law simpler and easier for the taxpayers. Out of the about 8.79 crore income-tax returns (ITRs) filed annually, only about 1 per cent are selected for scrutiny, the official said, adding that the powers are not applicable even to these cases under scrutiny.