The Indian Income Tax Department announced on Wednesday that over 6.63 crore income tax returns (ITRs) have been filed for the fiscal year 2020-21 as of March 15, 2022. This is an increase of 16.7 lakh from the previous fiscal year. The deadline for filing ITRs for the fiscal year 2020-21 was December 31, 2021, for individuals and March 15, 2022, for corporates and other taxpayers who are required to file audit reports.
According to the Income Tax Department, more than 5.43 lakh ITRs were filed on the deadline day this year, compared to 4.77 lakh last year. Over 13.84 lakh ITRs were filed in the last five days leading up to the deadline, compared to 11.87 lakh the previous year.
Out of the 6.63 crore ITRs filed for the fiscal year 2020-21, 46% were ITR-1 (3.03 crore), 9% were ITR-2 (57.6 lakh), 15% were ITR-3 (1.02 crore), 26% were ITR-4 (1.75 crore), and 2% were ITR-5 (15.1 lakh), ITR-6 (9.3 lakh) and ITR-7 (2.18 lakh). ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) and ITR Form 4 (Sugam) are simpler forms that cater to a large number of small and medium taxpayers.
Sahaj can be filed by an individual having income of up to Rs 50 lakh and who receives income from salary, one house property/other sources (interest, etc). ITR-4 can be filed by individuals, HUFs and firms with total income up to Rs 50 lakh and having income from business and profession. ITR-3 is filed by people having income as profits from business/ profession, while ITR-5, 6 and 7 are filed by LLPs, businesses and trusts, respectively.
More than 6.01 crore ITRs have been verified, with 75% of them using Aadhaar OTP. Out of the verified ITRs, more than 5.17 crore have been processed and 1.83 crore refunds for the fiscal year 2020-21 have been issued until March 15, 2022.
To assist taxpayers with a smooth experience on the portal, the helpdesk responded to over 8,500 taxpayer calls and 260 chats on March 15, 2022, alone. Two email IDs were created to resolve taxpayers’ grievances related to uploading of ITRs (itr.helpdesk@incometax.gov.in) and Tax Audit Report (TAR) (tar.helpdesk@incometax.gov.in). In this regard, 16,252 emails were received, of which 16,233 were resolved by March 15, 2022.
The Income Tax Department has been proactively engaging with taxpayers and professionals to provide assistance through its official Twitter handle on a continuous basis and through direct webex calls/webinars for better hand holding.
The last date for filing belated return, revised return, linking of Aadhaar and PAN, and compliance with the e-proceedings for assessment is March 31, 2022. The Income Tax Department advises taxpayers to comply with the regulations before the deadline to avoid any penalties or fines.
