New Delhi: The government has informed the Lok Sabha that there is a marked increase in the number of income tax filed through e-filing.


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“The number of e-Returns submitted for Assessment Year 2018-19 is 6,49,39,586 as against 5,47,30,304 e-Returns filed for the Assessment Year 2017-18, thereby marking a remarkable increase of 18.65% over previous Assessment Year,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha said.


A total of 7.19 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) have been processed in the Financial Year 2018-19. The total amount of refund released in Financial Year 2018-19 is Rs. 1,61,457.6 crore, she said.


The FM said that the government has accorded high priority to issue refunds for all taxpayers including small taxpayers.


“Less than 0.5% of ITRs are selected for scrutiny, the majority of ITRs are processed expeditiously and refunds are issued. With greater adoption of information technology in processing of ITRs and emphasis on less intrusive verification, the time taken to process ITRs is constantly reducing”.


She further added that refunds amounting to Rs 64,700 crores have already been issued in this Financial Year till June 18.


The Government has made it mandatory from March, 2019 to issue income-tax refunds through ECS only, therefore, expediting direct credit of refunds to bank accounts. Further, all field authorities have been instructed to issue refunds up to Rs 5,000 without any adjustment against outstanding demand, if any.