ITR filings for 2016-17 grow 25% to 2.8 cr

The number of income-tax returns has registered an increase of 24.7 per cent for 2016-17 at 2.82 crore owing to demonetisation and operation clean money, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

As a result of demonetization and Operation Clean Money, there is a substantial increase in the number of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed. The number of returns filed as on August 5 this year stands at 2.82 crore as against 2.26 crore filed during the corresponding period of 2016-2017, registering an increase of 24.7 per cent compared to growth rate of 9.9 per cent in the previous year, according to an official statement.

The growth in returns filed by individuals is 25.3 per cent with 2.79 crore returns having been received up to August 5 as against 2.22 crore returns in the corresponding period of  2016-2017.

This clearly shows that substantial number of new tax payers have been brought into the tax net subsequent to demonetization, the statement said.

The effect of demonetization is also clearly visible in the growth in Direct Tax Collections. The advance tax collections of personal Income Tax ( other than Corporate Tax) as on August 5 showed a growth of about 41.79 per cent over the corresponding period in  2016-2017.

Personal Income Tax under Self Assessment Tax (SAT) grew at 34.25 per cent over the corresponding period in 2016-2017.