Record tax filing: Over 7.28 crore income-tax returns filed, reports IT department

Record ITR filed: Income tax returns (ITRs) hit a new record of over 7.28 crore, marking a 7.5 per cent increase compared to the previous fiscal year, by the July 31 deadline, the income tax department announced on Friday.

For the assessment year 2024-25, the total number of ITRs filed by July 31, 2024, exceeded 7.28 crore, which is 7.5 per cent higher than the 6.77 crore ITRs filed for the assessment year 2023-24 by July 31, 2023, according to the department's statement.

"Of the 7.28 crore ITRs filed for AY 2024-25, 5.27 crore were filed under the new tax regime, while 2.01 crore were filed under the old tax regime," the statement noted.

This indicates that about 72 per cent of taxpayers opted for the new tax regime, with 28 per cent remaining under the old tax regime.

ITR filings peaked on July 31, 2024, the deadline for salaried taxpayers and other non-tax audit cases, with over 69.92 lakh ITRs filed on that single day.

Additionally, the department received 58.57 lakh ITRs from first-time filers, reflecting a broadening of the tax base.

In an unprecedented move, ITRs (ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-4, ITR-6) were made available on the e-filing portal from the first day of the financial year, April 1, 2024.

Out of the 7.28 crore ITRs filed for AY 2024-25, 45.77 per cent were ITR-1 (3.34 crore), 14.93 per cent were ITR-2 (1.09 crore), 12.5 per cent were ITR-3 (91.10 lakh), 25.77 per cent were ITR-4 (1.88 crore), and 1.03 per cent were ITR-5 to ITR-7 (7.48 lakh).

Over 43.82 per cent of these ITRs were filed using the online ITR utility on the e-filing portal, with the remainder filed using offline ITR utilities, the department added.

During the peak filing period, the e-filing portal managed heavy traffic efficiently, providing a seamless filing experience. On July 31, 2024 alone, there were 3.2 crore successful logins.

E-verification is essential for processing ITRs and issuing refunds. Over 6.21 crore ITRs have been e-verified, with more than 5.81 crore verified through Aadhaar-based OTP (93.56 per cent).

Of the e-verified ITRs, more than 2.69 crore for AY 2024-25 have been processed (43.34 per cent) by July 31, 2024.

In July 2024, 91.94 lakh challans were received through the TIN 2.0 payment system for AY 2024-25, with a total of 1.64 crore challans filed through TIN 2.0 since April 1, 2024.

The e-filing helpdesk handled approximately 10.64 lakh taxpayer queries up to July 31, providing proactive support during the peak filing period.

Expressing gratitude to tax professionals and taxpayers for their compliance, the department urged taxpayers to verify their unverified ITRs within 30 days of filing.

Taxpayers who missed the filing deadline were encouraged to complete their filings promptly.

The department emphasised taxpayer education about the old and new tax regimes, providing FAQs and educational videos on the e-filing portal.

Focused outreach campaigns on social media and unique creative campaigns on various platforms, including informational videos in 12 vernacular languages as well as English and Hindi, were conducted to encourage early ITR filings.

Outdoor campaigns also contributed to the successful increase in filings.

(With PTI inputs)