ITR Filing: Record 8.18 crore returns filed in AY 2023-24, up 9% YoY

To encourage taxpayers to file their ITRs and forms early, over 103.5 crore outreaches were made through targeted e-mail, SMS and other creative campaigns, the government said

A "record high" of 8.18 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) were filed in assessment year (AY) 2023-24 as of December 31, 2023, the Ministry of Finance said on January 1.

The number of ITRs filed marks a 9 percent jump compared to the preceding assessment year when a total of 7.51 crore ITRs were filed.

The total number of audit reports and other forms filed during AY2023-24 stood at 1.60 crore, as against 1.43 crore audit reports and forms filed in the corresponding period of AY2022-23, a release noted.

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A substantial portion of the data for all ITRs was prefilled with data about salary, interest, dividend, personal information, tax payment including TDS-related information, brought forward losses and MAT credit, among others, the release said. "The facility was used extensively, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs."

To encourage taxpayers to file their ITRs and forms early, over 103.5 crore outreaches were made through targeted e-mail, SMS and other creative campaigns, the government said.

"The e-filing helpdesk team handled approximately 27.37 lakh queries from taxpayers during the year, supporting the taxpayers proactively during the peak filing periods," the release pointed out.

The IT department also noted that the use of "TIN 2.0", a digital e-pay tax payment platform that replaced the previous OLTAS payment system, enabled user-friendly options for e-payment of taxes such as Internet Banking, NEFT/RTGS, OTC, Debit Card, payment gateway and UPI.

The platform also "enabled real-time credit of taxes to taxpayers which made ITR filing easier and faster", the release added.

Notably, the taxation body has requested those taxpayers who are yet to verify ITRs to complete the process within 30 days of their date of filing.