7.41 crore ITRs filed for AY 2023-24, including 53 lakh first-time filers

The Income Tax Department’s focus on various measures to ensure ease in compliance of taxpayers and transparent tax administration is reaping a rich dividend for the Government in terms of showcasing India’s robust and efficient tax administration amidst increasing global interest in India’s institutional transparency. The Department’s Time Series Data of Direct Taxes and Income Tax Return statistics, in various tranches, from time to time shows a significant upswing in returns filed by individual taxpayers from 3.36 crore in assessment year (AY) 2013-14 to 6.37 crore in AY 2021-22 registering an overall increase of 90 per cent. During the current fiscal too, 7.41 crore returns have been filed for AY 2023-24 till date, including 53 lakh new first time filers, a sign of the widening of tax base.
The overall impact of a combination of taxpayer oriented progressive reforms and concerted efforts at building trust with stakeholders is reflected in an increase in net direct tax collections from Rs 6.38 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to Rs 16.61 lakh crore in FY 2022-23. In fact, while the overall number of returns of individual taxpayers has shown an increase over the years, there is also an increase in the number of returns filed by individual taxpayers across various ranges of gross total income.
In the range of gross total income upto Rs 5 lakh, the number of returns filed by individual taxpayers has increased from 2.62 crore in AY 2013-14 to 3.47 crore in AY 2021-22 registering an increase of 32 per cent. In the range of gross total income of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 10 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh, the number of returns filed by individual taxpayers from AY 2013-14 to AY 2021-22 has registered an increase of 295 per cent and 291 per cent respectively. This indicates that individual taxpayers are showing a positive trend of migration to a higher range of gross total income.
A further analysis of the gross total income of individual taxpayers for AY 2013-14 and AY 2021-22 also shows that the proportionate contribution of gross total income of top 1 per cent individual taxpayers vis-à-vis all individual taxpayers has decreased from 15.9 per cent in AY 2013-14 to 14.6 per cent in AY 2021-22. The proportionate contribution of gross total income of bottom 25 per cent individual taxpayers vis-à-vis all individual taxpayers has increased from 8.3 per cent in AY 2013-14 to 8.4 per cent in AY 2021-22. The proportion of gross total income of the middle 74 per cent group of individual taxpayers increased from 75.8 per cent to 77 per cent in the above period.
The average gross total income for individual taxpayers increased from about Rs. 4.5 lakh in AY 2013-14 to about Rs 7 lakh in AY 2021-22 representing an increase of 56 per cent. The increase in average gross total income for top 1 per cent individual taxpayers is 42 per cent while that for bottom 25 per cent individual taxpayers is 58 per cent. The data is clearly indicative of a robust growth in the gross total income of individuals across different income groups subsequent to AY 2013-14.