@PLAZA These days all IT scrutiny assessments, except a few special cases, are done in a faceless and anonymous manner over electronic media and you don't even get to know who the assessing officer is or which city they are based in. So, from that perspective, there is less harassment because you don't have to make visits to the Income Tax office. On the other hand, because all communication is one -sided and not interactive, it can take several exchanges over months to explain a matter that could be explained in minutes sitting face to face. The timelines to complete the assessment have also been shortened drastically and assessing officers are under strict deadline pressure and also pressure to increase tax collection . That can lead to adverse orders sometimes being passed because either the assessee did not fully understand the information asked for or the assessing officer did not properly go through the reply because of heavy workload. There is always the option of appeal but because of the backlog of appeals against aggressive orders passed after the switch to the faceless assessment system , the average time for the appeal to be heard has gone up quite a lot.
Ultimately , if your return is in order and you have valid explanations, you will prevail, after appeal , if required, but while making the process faceless has reduced the scope of direct harrassment and asking for bribes, it has also lengthened the timeline for simple cases and made the process more cumbersome , especially for those who are not as comfortable giving written response to formal notices or don't have CAs with good drafting skills.
It is always better to stay out of the IT radar and avoid the hassle and aggravation even if your returns are 100% in order.