Tax collections increased from Rs 6.38 lakh crore to almost Rs 12 lakh crore this year: FM

Within the next two years, almost all verification and assessment of returns selected for scrutiny will be done electronically, Goyal said.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that the tax collections have increased significantly from Rs 6.38 lakh crore in 2013-14 to almost Rs 12 lakh crore this year. The number of returns filed have also increased from 3.79 crore to 6.85 crore showing 80 percent growth in tax base.

While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament Goyal said, “I thank the honest taxpayers of India for reposing faith in our Government. Let me assure them that we have used their contribution to serve the poor and create better infrastructure.”

The Income Tax Department now functions online. Returns, assessments, refunds and queries are all undertaken online. Last year, 99.54 percent of the income-tax returns were accepted as they were filed.

Goyal said that the Government has now approved a path breaking, technology intensive project to transform the Income-tax Department into a more assessee-friendly one. All returns will be processed in twenty-four hours and refunds issued simultaneously, he said.

Within the next two years, almost all verification and assessment of returns selected for scrutiny will be done electronically through anonymised back office, manned by tax experts and officials, without any personal interface between taxpayers and tax officers, he added.