ITR filings: Record! Income Tax Return filings witness massive jump - How online submission gave a boost to tax refunds
Income Tax Return (ITR) filings: The NDA government's digitisation move (Digital India) seems to have facilitated in boosting the number of income tax return filings. The current financial year, till December 30, has witnessed record number of income tax filing, as it rose to 43% i.e, 6.21 crore. The government expects that this number would hit the 7 crore mark by end of the financial year, according to an Economic Times report. The other ITR filing facts are:
1. Gross direct tax collection in the FY 2018-19 till December increased 14.1% to Rs 8.74 lakh crores. This was led by 23.8% growth in personal income tax collection as per the government data released on Monday. Image source: PTI
2. The current financial year also saw rise in corporate income tax collection during the same period as it grew 16% to Rs 3.64 lakh crore. Image source: PTI
3. Out of 6.21 crore returns, as many as three crore was through ITR-1, the simplest income tax return form. Image source: Reuters
4. The government has also issued refunds to a record 2.4 crore taxpayers as of December 2018, said the report, adding that this also witnessed a rise of 53% from the last year. Image source: Reuters
5. The government data refutes earlier speculations that refunds may be delayed to meet the fiscal deficit target. Image source: Reuters
6. Notably, the government has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP for the FY2018-19. By end of November 2018, the fiscal deficit had already reached 114.8 per cent of the full-year estimates. Image source: Pixabay
7. The online submission and processing of income tax returns have also helped speed up refunds. “This is highest ever issuance of refunds... The department’s emphasis is on timely issue of refunds,” the ET report quoted one Central Board of Direct Taxes official as saying. Image source: PTI