The number of Income Tax Returns submitted touched a record high of more than 6.77 crore in the assessment year 2023–24, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Income Tax Department. In comparison to the total number of ITRs filed during the prior assessment year, which saw 5.83 crore returns filed, this amount indicates a considerable rise of 16%. Additionally, the government revealed that 53.67 lakh ITRs were submitted by first-time filers, showing a significant expansion of the tax base.
According to a statement from the Income Tax Department, the day after the filing income tax return(ITR) deadline ended on July 31st saw the highest number of ITR files, with 64.33 lakh ITRs being submitted in total.
Advantages of Social Media Campaigns
In order to encourage the early filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs), the department highlighted the advantages of early filing through social media advertising and other targeted initiatives, including e-mail and SMS campaigns. Taxpayers filed their ITRs for the assessment year 2023–24 earlier than the corresponding period in the previous year. These well-coordinated efforts through social media channels led to good results.
The income tax department revealed the data and said that out of the 6.77 crore ITRs filed for AY 2023-24, 49.18% of ITRs are ITR-1 (3.33 crore), 11.97% are ITR-2 (81.12 lakhs), 11.13% are ITR-3 (75.40 lakhs), 26.77% are ITR-4 (1.81 crores) and 0.94% are ITR-5 to 7 (6.40 lakh).
Additionally, as per the department, over 46% of these returns were submitted online utilizing the ITR utility available on the e-filing portal, while the remainder of returns were submitted using the offline ITR platform.
Significance of ITR E-Verification
The department emphasized the significance of e-verification for the quick processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and the issuance of refunds, particularly using Aadhaar OTP and other ways. They expressed e-verification benefits saying that, of the 5.63 crore e-verified returns, more than 5.27 crore (94% of the total) were completed using Aadhaar-based OTP. More than 3.44 crore ITRs, or 61% of the e-verified ITRs, have been processed on July 31st, 2023, for the AY 2023–2024.
