Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

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New Delhi, 1^st January, 2024

 Press Release

A New Record for CBDT! Over 8.18 crore ITRs filed for A.Y. 2023-2024

The Income-tax Department appreciates taxpayers and tax professionals for making compliances in time, leading to a surge in filing of Income-tax Returns (ITRs), resulting in a new record of 8.18 crore ITRs for the A.Y. 2023-2024 filed upto 31.12.2023 as against 7.51 crore ITRs filed upto 31.12.2022. This is 9% more than 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, as against 1.43 crore audit reports and forms filed in the corresponding period of preceding year.

It is heartening to note that a large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their financial transactions by viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A substantial portion of the data for all ITRs was prefilled with data pertaining to salary, interest, dividend, personal information, tax payment including TDS related information, brought forward losses, MAT credit, etc to further ease compliance by taxpayers. The facility was used extensively, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs. 

Further, 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. TIN 2.0 platform has enabled real time credit of taxes to taxpayers which made 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 till 31.12.2023. The e-filing Helpdesk team handled approximately 27.37 lakh queries from taxpayers during the year upto 31.12.2023, supporting the taxpayers proactively during the peak filing periods. Support from the helpdesk was provided to taxpayers through inbound calls, outbound calls, live chats, WebEx and co-browsing sessions. Helpdesk team also supported resolution of queries received on the X(Twitter) handle of the Department through Online Response Management (ORM), by proactively reaching out to the taxpayers/ stakeholders and assisting them for different issues on near real-time basis. 

The Department expresses gratitude to all taxpayers and tax professionals for the support in compliances in filing of ITRs and Forms. Taxpayers are also requested to verify their unverified ITRs if any, within 30 days of filing the ITR to avoid any consequences.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy) &

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

CBDT, vide Circular No. 20/2023 dt. Dec 28, 2023, issues TDS Guidelines under Section 194-O applicable to e-commerce operators; The Circular addresses issues such as: (i) TDS liability in case of multiple e-commerce operators in a transaction, (ii) scope of gross amount w.r.t. convenience fees or commission or logistics & delivery fees, (iii) GST and other state levies vis-a-vis gross amount for TDS, (iv) adjustment of purchase returns, (v) treatment of discounts. 

Click here to read and download the CBDT Circular

 

 

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Government takes various export promotion initiatives like New Foreign Trade Policy, extension of Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit, etc.

Dated: 20 DEC 2023

Government has taken the following export promotion initiatives:-

i New Foreign Trade Policy was launched on 31^st March, 2023 and it came into effect from 1st  April, 2023.

ii Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit has also been  extended upto 30-06-2024 with additional allocation of Rs. 2500 crores.

iii Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme. 

iv Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme to promote labour oriented sector export has been implemented since 07.03.2019.

v Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme has been implemented since 01.01.2021. With effect from 15.12.2022, uncovered sectors like pharmaceuticals, organic and inorganic chemicals and article of iron and steel has been covered under RoDTEP. Similarly, anomalies in 432 tariff lines have been addressed and the corrected rates have been implemented with effect from 16.01.2023.

vi Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.

vii Districts as Export Hubs initiative has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.

viii Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.

ix Regular monitoring of export performance with Commercial Missions abroad, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards/ Authorities and Industry Associations and taking corrective measures from time to time.

Following measures have been taken by the Government to maximize the growth of domestic markets and to expand its reach globally;-

i.          Pradhan MantriGati Shakti

ii.         National Logistics Policy

iii.        National Industrial Corridor Development Programme

iv.        GIS enabled Land Bank- India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)

v.         Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS)

vi.        Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI)

vii.       Make In India

viii.      Startup India

ix.        One District One Product

x.         National Single Window System

A new Chapter has been introduced within the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023 that aims to promote e-Commerce exports by bringing such exporters under the ambit of various export promotion schemes of the Government. In line with the special emphasis laid in the FTP 2023 on e-commerce exports, the outreach events are being held in the districts under Districts as Export hubs initiative with focus on promoting e-commerce exports of the identified goods from the districts in collaboration with various stakeholders including the e-commerce platforms, various concerned central and state government departments such as the Department of Posts, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Banks, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Export Promotion Councils, Local Trade Associations/Chambers of Commerce, District Industries Centers, etc.

This information has been provided by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt Anupriya Patel in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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AD/VN
(Release ID: 1988823)

 

Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes

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New Delhi, 15 th December, 2023

Press Release

Saint Lucia’s Tax Inspectors without Borders (TIWB) programme launched in partnership with India

Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), launched a programme in Saint Lucia on 14 th December, 2023. India has been chosen as the Partner Administration and will provide Tax Experts for this programme.

This programme is expected to be of 12-18 months’ duration in which India, in collaboration with the TIWB Secretariat and support of the UNDP Country Office, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, aims to aid Saint Lucia in strengthening its tax administration by transferring technical knowledge and skills to its tax administration, and through sharing of best practices. The focus of the programme will be on effective use of automatic exchange of information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework.

Smt. Pragya Sahay Saksena, Member (Legislation) of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ministry of Finance, Government of India attended the launch through video conferencing along with Mr. Francis Fontenelle, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Saint Lucia; Mr. Ben Dickinson, Head of Global Relations and Development Division of the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the OECD; Ms. Rusudan Kemularia, Head of the TIWB Secretariat; and other senior officers of Saint Lucia, UNDP, OECD, TIWB Secretariat and Foreign Tax & Tax Research Division of CBDT.
This programme is the seventh TIWB programme which India has supported by providing Tax Experts.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy) &
Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

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New Delhi, 26^th October, 2023

Press Release

Direct Taxes Data shows improved Taxpayer compliance

Income Tax Department has, over the years, focused on several measures to ensure ease in compliance of taxpayers and transparent tax administration. In line with transparency in its functioning, the Department had released the Time Series Data of Direct Taxes and Income Tax Return statistics, in various tranches, from time to time.

The data shows that the number of ITR filings has shown a consistent upswing over the last few years. The returns filed by individual taxpayers have increased from 3.36 crore in Assessment Year (AY) 2013-14 to 6.37 crore in AY 2021-22 registering an overall increase of 90%. During the current fiscal too, 7.41 crore returns have been filed for AY 2023-24 till date, including 53 lakh new first time filers. This is an indication of the widening of tax base subsequent to various reform measures put in place by the Department.

In fact, while the overall number of returns of individual taxpayers has shown an increase over the years, there is also an increase in number of returns filed by individual taxpayers across various ranges of gross total income.

1. In the range of gross total income upto Rs. 5 lakh, the number of returns filed by individual taxpayers has increased from 2.62 crore in AY 2013-14 to 3.47 crore in AY 2021-22 registering an increase of 32%. This range of income includes individuals having income below taxable limit who may not be filing returns.
2. In the range of gross total income of Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh, and Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh, the number of returns filed by individual taxpayers from AY 2013-14 to AY 2021-22 has registered an increase of 295% and 291% respectively

This indicates that individual taxpayers are showing a positive trend of migration to higher range of gross total income.

A further analysis of the gross total income of individual taxpayers for AY 2013-14 and AY 2021-22 also shows that:

1. The proportionate contribution of gross total income of top 1% individual taxpayers vis-à-vis all individual taxpayers has decreased from 15.9% in AY 2013-14 to 14.6% in AY 2021-22.
2. The proportionate contribution of gross total income of bottom 25% individual taxpayers vis-à-vis all individual taxpayers has increased from 8.3% in AY 2013-14 to 8.4% in AY 2021-22.
3. The proportion of gross total income of middle 74% group of individual taxpayers increased from 75.8% to 77% in the above period.
4. The average gross total income for individual taxpayers increased from about Rs. 4.5 lakh in AY 2013-14 to about Rs. 7 lakh in AY 2021-22 representing an increase of 56%. The increase in average gross total income for top 1% individual taxpayers is 42% while that for bottom 25% individual taxpayers is 58%.

The above data is clearly indicative of a robust growth in the gross total income of individuals across different income groups subsequent to AY 2013-14. The overall impact has been reflected in increase in net direct tax collections from Rs.6.38 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to Rs. 16.61 lakh crore in FY 2022-23. This has been made possible due to the taxpayer friendly and taxpayer oriented progressive policies adopted by the Government. The Department is committed to ensure transparency in processes, efficiency in administration and concerted efforts at building trust with taxpayers and stakeholders.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media and Technical Policy) &

Official Spokesperson, CBDT