February ended on a good note for the country and its economy as a total of 6.35 Crore Income Tax Returns were being filed electronically in mid-February. The number hiked from 6.28 Crore in 2018-19. Replying to the question of Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said the numbers are constantly elevating and the collection is to its highest in the current year.
He further declared that the number of ITRs filed in the Fiscal Year 2016-17 was 5.18 Crores, in 2017-18 the number hiked to 5.32 Crore, in 2018-19 the number was 6.28 Crore and in 2019-20 (up to February 15) the number of tax filers is 6.35 Crore. The due date for ITR submission 
Around 15.58 lakh non-filers are in the eyes of the tax radar who haven’t filed the ITR for Assessment Year 2018-19. Similarly, 38.81 lakh non-filers were identified for 2017-18 and 32 lakh for 2016-17 with the support of the Non-Filers Monitoring System (NMS).
NMS is the government authorized body that deals with the investigation of non-filers. The institution analysis the in-house information rendered by third parties (like statements of Financial Transaction, Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) and Tax Collection at Source statements, Intelligence, and Criminal investigation data, etc). and with the help of such records, they are able to dig out the individuals or firms who are involved in high-level financial dealings but haven’t filed returns.
Authorities are taking appropriate actions on the cases involving the issue of statutory notices calling for return, making of tax assessment, levy of penalty and institution of prosecution, said Minister of State for Finance.
