« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Delhi HC Rules GST Registration Cannot Be Cancelled Retrospectively Without a Clear Show Cause Notice (SCN)  Belated income tax return AY 2026-27: How to file, late filing charges and what you may lose  Major Financial Changes from August 1, 2026: ITR Deadline, RBI MPC Meeting, Tatkal Ticket Rules & More  Government proposes to ease tax relief conditions for offshore funds  TallyPrime Connected Banking: Automating Banking and Accounting  ITR Filing Deadline 2026: Is July 31 the Last Date to File Your Income Tax Return? Latest Official Update  ITR filing deadline nears: How to file income tax return online on e-filing portal - quick 15-step guide  Will the ITR Filing Deadline Be Extended Beyond July 31 for FY 2025-26? Here's the Latest Update for Taxpayers  Income Tax Refund Delayed for AY 2026-27? 5 Common Reasons Your Refund May Be Stuck and How to Fix It  ITR Filing 2026: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Asks Tax Officials to Let Honest Taxpayers Correct Genuine Mistakes  Will Your FCNR Deposit Stay Tax-Free After Returning to India? Tax Rules Explained for NRIs «  Global consultancy Deloitte to hire 3,000 in 2 years... Can TDS provisions be made less tedious?... » Income Tax scrutiny policy not open to RTI query: CIC February, 25th 2008 The Government is not bound under the Right to Information law to divulge details about its Income Tax scrutiny policy, used to identify tax payees before subjecting them to detailed investigation. The Central Information Commission held this while accepting the Finance Ministry's view that revealing information related to the scrutiny guidelines would adversely affect economic interests of the country. "The Finance Ministry at the highest level has analyzed the whole issue and has given its considered opinion about the possible effect of disclosure on economic interest of the State," a CIC bench headed by Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said The order came on an RTI application of Kamal Anand who sought details from Central Board of Direct Taxes about its instructions issued to I-T assessment officers on scrutiny policy for financial year 2006-07, while also claiming a copy of the policy guidelines for individual tax payers. The matter, that was taken with the Commission following CBDT's refusal to provide the details, was thereafter referred to the Department of Revenue within the Finance Ministry for its views. In its submissions before the CIC, the Finance Ministry had said that divulging details about the scrutiny guidelines would affect India's economic interests by making it easy for unscrupulous tax payers to evade taxes. It was said that the guidelines were meant for use by I-T assessment officers to enforce compliance of tax-payers' liability, and hence there was no public interest attached to such disclosures.