Income Tax return filings up by 71 percent till August 31

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New Delhi: Filing of Income Tax Returns has seen a robust rise of 71 percent till August 31 this year, when compared to the same period in 2017.

News agency ANI reported that the total number of ITRs e-filed by August 31 of this year is 5.42 crore as against 3.17 crore filed till the same time period last year. This would be a major shot in the arm for the central government which has been seeking to bring more and more people under the tax bracket and has even defended many of its financial decisions using this argument.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently said that the larger objective of demonetisation was to usher in a tax-compliant society. He previously also defended the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by stating that it would simplify the tax structuring in India.

What could have helped in the rise of ITRs filed this year is that the Income Tax Department had been constantly reminding taxpayers to file their tax returns.

For those who missed the tax return filing deadline, there is a provision to file a 'Belated Return' which was brought about after amendments in the Finance Act 2017. It would require a penalty to be paid and can be filed any time before the end of the assessment year or before completion of the assessment.