I-T dept sees 9% rise in ITR filings for AY2023-24

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department on Monday reported a 9% increase in the filing of Income-tax returns (ITRs), setting a new record with 8.18 crore  ITRs filed for the Assessment Year (AY) 2023-2024 as of December 31, 2023.

As per the government data, in the previous year 7.51 crore ITRs were filed by the same date for the AY2022-2023. During the same period, the department also recorded the submission of 1.60 crore audit reports and other forms, indicating a rise from the 1.43 crore filed in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

“…a large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their financial transactions by viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A substantial portion of the data for all ITRs was prefilled with data pertaining to salary, interest, dividend, personal information, tax payment including TDS related information, brought forward losses, MAT credit, etc to further ease compliance by taxpayers. The facility was used extensively, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs,” an official statement said.

It said the adoption of digital e-pay tax payment platform, TIN 2.0, on the e-filing portal throughout fiscal year 2023-2024 further streamlined the process. TIN 2.0 replaced the OLTAS payment system and introduced user-friendly options for tax payment, such as internet banking, NEFT/RTGS, OTC, debit card, payment gateway, and UPI. In addition, the department conducted over 103.5 crore outreaches through targeted e-mails, SMS, and creative campaigns.