New Delhi: The Income-tax Department has registered a surge in the filing of Income-tax Returns (ITRs), resulting in a new record of 8.18 crore ITRs for the A.Y. 2023-2024 filed up to 31.12.2023, as against 7.51 crore ITRs filed up to 31.12.2022. This represents a 9% increase compared to the total ITRs filed for A.Y. 2022-23. The total number of audit reports and other forms filed during the period is 1.60 crore, compared to 1.43 crore audit reports and forms filed in the corresponding period of the preceding year.
It is also observed that a large number of taxpayers performed their due diligence by comparing data of their financial transactions through viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A substantial portion of the data for all ITRs was prefilled with information related to salary, interest, dividend, personal information, tax payment including TDS-related information, brought forward losses, MAT credit, etc., to further ease compliance for taxpayers. This facility was extensively used, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs.
Furthermore, during this F.Y. 2023-2024, a digital e-pay tax payment platform – TIN 2.0, was made fully functional on the e-filing portal, replacing the OLTAS payment system. This enabled user-friendly options for e-payment of taxes, such as Internet Banking, NEFT/RTGS, OTC, Debit Card, payment gateway, and UPI. The TIN 2.0 platform has facilitated real-time crediting of taxes to taxpayers, making ITR filing easier and faster.
To encourage taxpayers to file their ITRs and Forms early, over 103.5 crore outreaches were made through targeted e-mail, SMS, and other creative campaigns. Such concerted efforts led to fruitful results, with 9% more ITRs being filed for A.Y. 2023-24 until 31.12.2023. The e-filing Helpdesk team handled approximately 27.37 lakh queries from taxpayers during the year up to 31.12.2023, supporting taxpayers proactively during peak filing periods.
Support from the helpdesk was provided to taxpayers through inbound calls, outbound calls, live chats, WebEx, and co-browsing sessions. The Helpdesk team also supported the resolution of queries received on the X (Twitter) handle of the Department through Online Response Management (ORM), by proactively reaching out to taxpayers/stakeholders and assisting them with different issues on a near real-time basis.
The IT Department further requests taxpayers to verify any unverified ITRs within 30 days of filing the ITR to avoid any consequences.