E-filing of Income Tax returns up by 40 per cent

New Delhi: Data tabulated by the Income Tax (IT) department has highlighted a 40 per cent increase in incremental growth in the e-Filing of IT returns.

As on August 26, data which was accessed by ANI showed that more than 4.37 crore returns were filed for the financial year ending March 31 against 3.10 crore returns for the financial year 17-18 (Assessment Year 16-17).

A senior IT official told ANI on the condition of anonymity that out of 4.37 crore returns, 2.49 crore was processed. The official further said that the number is expected to increase, with the last date of filing fixed for August 31, with incremental growth each category, especially the returns filed for more than Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore.

Furthermore, data revealed that the IT department has already processed 62 lakh refund for the current assessment year, till August 26, against 23 lakh cases in the same period last year, thus reflecting an incremental growth of more than 168 per cent.

The official further noted that a rise of more than 33 per cent was seen in refunds, with a total of Rs. 88, 998 crore refunded by August 26, as against Rs. 66, 782 crore in the same time last year.

Earlier, the Central Board of Direct Taxation(CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra had said that its enforcement unit would be strengthened to deal with cases of tax evasion more seriously.

He further said that CBDT had sent notices to everyone who filed their returns this year and also taken into account their economic activities.

"We have sent notices to everyone who filed their returns and we have taken into account the economic activities which they have undertaken so that even if they don't file returns, we will have to pass assessment order with that. We issued 3.09 lakh notices last year on the basis of demonetisation data and many persons have filed returns into that," Chandra added.