WhatsApp chats unearth Rs 200 cr tax evasion. Now Govt to track digital footprint under new I-T Bill

New Delhi: The government has proposed new legal provisions to track and investigate digital assets under the Income Tax Bill, 2025. The existing Income Tax Act lacked adequate legal backing for probing digital transactions, prompting the government to introduce specific measures, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday (March 25).

While addressing the Lok Sabha during discussions on the Finance Bill, the Finance Minister said, “Income Tax Law did not give legal backing to check digital assets, so have included it. Added checking of digital elements in the Income Tax Act, Law should give legal backing.”

She further emphasised the growing role of digital forensics in uncovering unaccounted wealth. “Encrypted messages on mobile phones led to unearthing Rs 250 crore unaccounted money.

Evidence from WhatsApp messages of crypto assets has been detected. WhatsApp communication helped unearth Rs 200 crore unaccounted money,” she said, adding that authorities have utilised Google Maps history to track locations where cash was hidden and examined Instagram accounts to establish benami property ownership.

The proposed bill aligns tax enforcement with technological advancements, ensuring that virtual digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, do not escape scrutiny. The legislation will empower tax officials to access communication platforms such as emails, WhatsApp and Telegram, along with enterprise software and cloud storage used for financial concealment. Sitharaman stressed that gathering digital evidence is essential for proving tax evasion in court and accurately computing evaded tax amounts.