New Delhi: Income tax assessees claiming over Rs 2 lakh as exemption will now come under the lens of taxmen in the face of the drive to check evasion, especially under the garb of "agriculture income."

"Compulsory scrutiny will be undertaken against all those income tax returns in which assessees claim exemptions of Rs 2 lakh and above," a senior Finance Ministry official told in New Delhi.

Even if an assessees shows agriculture income of above Rs 2 lakh, the official said the individual will come under the compulsory scrutiny so that non-farm earnings are not declared as "agriculture income."

With the implementation of land ceiling of upto 18 acres of individual holding in all States, there is little chance for a farmer to earn more than Rs 2 lakh.

"So, there is no logic for taxing farm income of genuine farmers," the official said but added there are instances where high net worth individuals have farm houses and show non-farm income as agriculture income that is exempt from tax.

To capture the true picture of the actual taxable income in the country and bring in more individuals under the tax net, the Government is coming up with a guideline for Annual Information Return (AIR) that would capture all high-value transactions above Rs 50,000 and make it virtually impossible for non-salaried assessees to evade taxes.

The AIR would also bring to light the transactions made by non-assessees, who would then come under the scrutiny of taxmen, the official said.