CBDT rejects report on decline in income tax e-filing CBDT rejects report on decline in income tax e-filing Chartered Accountant CA ICAI Chartered Accountants CA ICAI CAinINDIA ICAI Announcements Accounting Standards CA News ICAI Students ICAI Members Case Laws CPT IPCC Final ICAI Course CA Course ICAI Forum CA Question Papers ICAI Study Material

« Direct Tax »

Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs
GSTR-3B deadline expired: File now to avoid input tax credit loss, GST registration cancellation
ITR Filing: Income tax department shortens time limit for condonation of delay What it means for taxpayers
CBDT launches campaign to intimate taxpayers on undeclared foreign assets in ITR
ITR AY2024-25: CBDT launches campaign for taxpayers to report income from foreign sources
CBDT comes out with FAQs on Direct Tax Vivad se Viswas scheme 2024
CBDT weighs overhaul of designations for income tax officials to secure better clarity
Direct tax-GDP ratio at millennial high in FY24
CBDT comes out with FAQs on Direct Tax Vivad se Viswas scheme 2024
Tax filing: How to choose the right ITR form
Income Tax Return: How to maximise your tax refunds while filing ITR?
Last date for filing income tax return (ITR)


« CBDT gives I-T commissioners 3-month deadline to clear...	Income tax returns shrink in FY19 as demonetisation effect... »
CBDT rejects report on decline in income tax e-filing

May, 07th 2019
Issuing clarification, the CBDT said that during FY18, out of 6.74 crore ITRs which were e-filed, 5.47 crore ITRs were filed for Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18, the current year The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has refuted media reports about the reduction in numbers of Income Tax Returns (ITR) e-filers, saying that figures for ITR e-filed during the financial year 2018-19 are "not comparable" with 2017-18. "This is factually untrue, because the figures for FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19 are not directly comparable," the CBDT said in a statement. The tax authority's statement comes in response to media reports pertaining to reduction in numbers of ITRs e-filed during financial year 2018-19 as compared to FY 2017-18. Issuing clarification, the CBDT said that during FY18, out of 6.74 crore ITRs which were e-filed, 5.47 crore ITRs were filed for Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18, the current year. In comparison, a total of 6.68 crore ITRs were e-filed during FY19, which included 6.49 crore ITRs of current AY 2018-19, registering a growth of nearly 19 per cent. "This would imply that substantially larger number of taxpayers filed their ITRs electronically in the FY 2018-19 as compared to FY 2017-18," it said. Explaining the factual status, CBDT said that during FY18, apart from the returns for the AY 2017-18, nearly 1.21 crore ITRs were filed for AY 2016-17. The balance number of ITRs filed for AY 2015-16 and prior AYs was 0.06 crore. In comparison, during FY 2018-19 only 0.14 crore ITRs for AY 2017-18 were filed. Also Read: Slowdown Blues: CMIE paints not-so-happy picture for economy; urban consumption, credit growth to remain bleak "Thus, the apparent decrease in the number of ITRs filed during FY 2018-19 pertaining to earlier years was due to an amendment in Section 139(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 brought in vide Finance Act, 2017, w.e.f. 01.04.2018, which mandated that a revised return could be furnished only up to the end of the relevant Assessment Year," the taxes body said. As a result only 0.14 crore ITRs pertaining to AY 2017-18 were filed during FY 2018-19 as these were the revised ITRs for the relevant AY which could only be filed due to change in law, it added. CBDT further said that the number of paper ITRs for AY 2017-18 was only 9.2 lakh (1.5 per cent of total ITRs filed) and the number of paper ITRs for AY 2018-19 is 4.8 lakh (0.6% of total ITRs filed). This indicates that most of the taxpayers have switched to e-filing which is clear from the dwindling numbers of paper returns filed for AY 2018-19 compared to earlier years, it said.