Govt Clarifies Purpose of New Income Tax Section 247; No New AI Powers Given to IT Officers

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, has recently responded to the questions raised in Lok Sabha concerning the new Section 247 of the Income Tax Act.

Here are the questions raised in the Lok Sabha:

“Question 1: whether it is a fact that the introduction of new Section 247 in the Income Tax Act to be effective from 1st April, 2026, has created a lot of confusion among taxpayers, as it gives unlimited power to income tax officials to access digital space using Artificial Intelligence (AI); and

Question 2: If so, the details thereof?”

Answers given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance:

Answers 1 and 2: Section 247 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, is related to the search and seizure provisions, effective from April 01, 2025. Presently, these provisions are part of section 132 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Income-tax authorities have already been given the necessary power under Section 132 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, to break or override access codes of computer systems during searches. Now, the law has just clearly mentioned this power again because technology and digital systems have grown a lot. Also, the provisions of section 247 or any related provision do not talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Therefore, Section 247 has not awarded any new power to the Income Tax Officers; it only clarifies what already existed. Only the number of sections has been revised, due to a reduction in the total number of sections available under the Income Tax Rules.