The income tax department will not increase the number of tax returns taken for scrutiny — currently at 1 percent of all I-T returns filed — even though more and more people are filing for returns.

Only 3 lakh among 528 lakh total income tax returns (ITR) filed for 2015-16 were scrutinised, an I-T department source told the Mint. The scrutinized returns constituted about 0.6 percent of the whole, maintaining the less than 1 percent practice.

The source told the newspaper that the practice is sustained to stay “non-intrusive” towards tax payers as most of the scrutinized cases, too, are not followed by any field surveys.

The department has decided to use persuasion to communicate with taxpayers and send them reminders and such important messages. As per an I-T official, the department had sent 17 million text messages to taxpayers asking them to file returns for the financial year 2016-17 before the August 5 deadline.

The messaging campaign has paid off as the department has seen a rise of 25 percent in the number of I-T returns filed for FY17 before the deadline. This compared to the last fiscal when around 3/5th of the 528 lakh returns were filed post due date.

Besides, the enforcement actions by the income tax officials will only be reserved for events wherein they receive backdoor information about any hefty amount of tax evasion. Presently, the department holds around 600 searches per year, the official said. #casansaar (Source - MoneyControl)