The Ministry of Finance announced today that 7.28 crore income tax returns (ITRs) were filed for (Assessment year) AY 2024-25, marking a 7.5% increase from the 6.77 crore ITRs filed by July 31, 2023, for the previous AY. Over 5.27 crore were filed under the new tax regime, while 2.01 crore ITRs were filed under the old tax regime. Furthermore, the ministry stated that more taxpayers had chosen the new tax regime this year, indicating that approximately 72% of taxpayers opted for the new tax regime, leaving 28% in the old tax regime.
It is noted that on the final day of filing ITR, July 31, 2024, the filing peaked with over 69.92 lakh ITRs filed. “The e-filing portal also observed its highest per hour rate of 5.07 lakh of ITR filing between 7 pm to 8 pm on July 31, 2024. The highest per second rate of ITR filing was 917 (July 17, 2024, at 08:13:54 am) and highest per minute rate of ITR filing was 9,367 (July 31, 2024, 08:08 pm),” the FM states in a release.
The finance ministry (FM) noted an increase in the tax base, with 58.57 lakh ITRs from first-time filers by July 31, 2024. For the first time, ITR forms (ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-4, ITR-6) were made available on the e-filing portal on April 1, 2024, the first day of the financial year.
The ITR-3 and ITR-5 were also released earlier compared to previous years. The department emphasised educating taxpayers about the old and new tax regimes, providing FAQs and educational videos on the e-filing portal, the ministry states.
The FM explained that out of the total 7.28 crore ITRs filed for AY 2024-25, ITR-1 accounts for 45.77% of the filings, which is 3.34 crore returns. ITR-2 represents 14.93%, equating to 1.09 crore returns. ITR-3 comprises 12.50% of the filings, or 91.10 lakh returns. ITR-4 makes up 25.77%, totaling 1.88 crore returns, while ITR-5 through ITR-7 collectively constitute 1.03%, amounting to 7.48 lakh returns. Additionally, more than 43.82% of these returns were filed online through the e-filing portal, with the remaining returns submitted via offline methods.
Out of over 6.21 crore ITRs that have been e-verified, more than 5.81 crore were verified using Aadhaar-based OTP, representing 93.56% of the total. By July 31, 2024, more than 2.69 crore ITRs for AY 2024-25 had been processed, accounting for 43.34% of the e-verified returns, the ministry adds.
