Taxpayers used to pay more than three-fourths of the income tax in the country having an income exceeding Rs 50 lakh at present, even as the tax load on those making less than Rs 20 lakh has drawn down in the last 10 years, showing the relief for the middle class, as per the senior officer.
The contribution of the tax share by people with income less than Rs 10 lakh has lessened to nearly 6.22% from 10.17 per cent of the total tax filed in 2014.
In the last 10 years, there has been nearly a 5 times rise in the returns submitted via those making more than Rs 50 lakh to over 9.39 lakh in 2023-24, the official mentioned. It is because of the robust anti-tax evasion and black money statutes executed via the Modi government, he mentioned.
Meanwhile, the tax obligation of the person in the over Rs 50 lakh earning bracket has surged more than 3 times. As per the official, “About 76 per cent of income tax collected is from those earning above ₹50 lakh. This has led to the reduced tax burden on the middle class.,”
In this existing year nearly 75 lakh updated returns have been submitted to date, officials marked. The same has assisted the government collect exceeding Rs 8000 crore. He mentioned “We are hopeful of exceeding target for income tax during current fiscal.”
Currently as of the rise in the exemption limit of Rs 7 lakh from Rs 2 lakh in 2014, there has been a rise in the Zero Income Tax Filing to 4.9 crore in 2024 from 1.8 crore ten years ago.
“The percentage of income tax collection from taxpayers earning less than ₹10 lakh reduced to 6.2 per cent of the total tax paid in 2024 from 10.2 per cent in 2014,” he stated.
Elaborating on the way the tax load has diminished for the middle class, the official mentioned that the income tax obligation of those making between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 7 lakh pre-2014 was ₹20,000, which is now zero. The tax liability in FY24 was ₹43,000 for those earning between ₹7 lakh and ₹10 lakh, and the number of ITR filers in the same income class was 2.2 crore.
Total income tax is 4-5 per cent of their income for people having income between ₹7-10 lakh, which is among the lowest tax rates in arising economies, he said.
As per the official post adjusting the inflation in the 10-year duration, there was a nearly 60% decline in the tax obligation for those whose income lies between ₹10-15 lakh and 40 per cent decrease for those earning ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh.
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The officials mentioned that there is a decrease in the tax load on the people who are making less than Rs 20 lakh, which is the middle-class group, the official expressed.