new delhi, June 16 -- Income-tax returns of charitable trusts and research institutions that have wrongfully claimed exemptions, as well as entities and individuals that have had repeated additions to their liability, will be automatically selected for scrutiny this year.The latest guidelines of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) mandate senior field officers to issue notices on such income-tax returns (ITRs) until 30 June. The guidelines are part of the direct taxes authority's efforts to improve compliance. The annual exercise is even more important this year as the government seeks to curb evasion and shore up tax revenue after forgoing Rs.1 trillion in the annual budget to provide relief to the middle class. According to data available from the CBDT, more than 314,000 associations of persons or trusts filed tax returns in 2023-24. Queries emailed to the CBDT seeking comments remained unanswered until the time of publishing. Charitable and religious trusts, as well as research institutions, claiming tax exemption under the Income Tax Act's Section 11 must register again. The changes in law introduced from 1 April 2021 seek to improve compliance and avoid roving enquiries into their affairs. The CBDT's guidelines said that cases where such registration has not been granted or has been revoked by the end of March 2024 and the institution has claimed tax exemption in 2024-25, shall be scrutinized by the department's faceless assessment centre. Cases where withdrawal of registration is set aside in appellate proceedings will be excluded. In addition to registration, charitable and religious trusts and institutions must ensure that 85% of the donations are used for charitable or religious purposes to be eligible for the benefit. Universities and research institutions that do not claim tax benefits under other provisions of the law can also claim tax exemption under Section 11. Individuals and entities that have been subject to a survey-a visit by tax officials that is less stringent than a search-and those that have been searched after 1 April 2023 will also have their ITRs automatically scrutinized this assessment year....