The Finance Ministry has said that around 8.18 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) were filed till December 31, 2023 for the financial year 2023-2024 as against 7.51 crore ITRs filed till December 31, 2022.

According to the Income Tax Department, this marked an increase of 9% compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. The audit reports and other forms filed during the period under review totaled 1.60 crore, an increase over the 1.43 crore audit reports and other forms filed in the same period last year.

The increased efficiency in tax filing is attributed to the widespread use of the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) as taxpayers compared the dates of their final transactions by noting their AIS and TIS.

The ministry says, “A significant portion of the data for all ITRs has been pre-populated with data on salary, interest, dividend, personal details, tax payments including TDS related information, loss carryforwards, MAT credits etc. to ensure compliance To further facilitate taxpayers.” . The facility was utilized extensively, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs.”

Digital transformation in tax filing has been instrumental in achieving this milestone as taxpayers have adopted technology-driven tools and platforms for smoother and faster tax filing, it said. In the financial year 2023-2024, the Income Tax Department launched TIN 2.0, a digital e-pay tax payment platform fully integrated with the e-filing portal, the ministry said.

“During the financial year 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 electronic payment of taxes such as internet banking, NEFT/RTGS, OTC, debit card, payment gateway and UPI. The TIN 2.0 platform enabled real-time crediting of taxes to taxpayers, making ITR filing easier and faster,” it added.

To drive early filing of ITRs and forms, the Income Tax department conducted more than 103.5 million outreach activities using targeted emails, SMS and various creative campaigns, the government said.

The e-Filing Helpdesk team handled around 27.37 lakh queries from taxpayers during the year ended December 31, 2023 and provided proactive assistance, especially during peak filing periods, it said.

“Help desk support 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 through the Ministry’s X (Twitter) account through Online Response Management (ORM) by proactively reaching out to taxpayers,” the FinMin says.

Further, the Income Tax Department asked taxpayers to verify their unaudited ITRs (if any) within 30 days of filing to avoid possible consequences.