Number of individual taxpayers with annual income above Rs 1 crore rose 68% in last four years
The average income declared by salaried and non-salaried taxpayers also increased over the past three years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said.
The number of individual taxpayers earning above Rs 1 crore annually rose 68% in the last four years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said on Monday. The number has risen from 48,416 in assessment year 2014-’15 to 81,344 in assessment year 2017-’18, the tax board said.
The total number of taxpayers – including corporations and Hindu Undivided Families – earning over Rs 1 crore annually increased 58% in the same period, from 88,649 in assessment year 2014-’15 to 1,40,139 in assessment year 2017-’18.
The average income declared by salaried and non-salaried taxpayers, as well as the number of taxpayers who declared such income, has increased over the past three years, the CBDT said. “During a three-year period [assessment year 2014-’15 to 2017-’18], the number of salaried taxpayers has increased from 1.70 crore [assessment year 2014-’15] to 2.33 crore,” the Income Tax Department’s policy-making body said. “Also, the average income declared by the salaried taxpayers has gone up by 19% from Rs 5.76 lakh to Rs 6.84 lakh.”
Meanwhile, non-salaried taxpayers increased from 1.95 crore to 2.33 crore and the average non-salary income declared rose by 27% from Rs 4.11 lakh to Rs 5.23 lakh over the same period, the body said.
The CBDT released the key statistics of income tax and direct taxes for four years on Monday. Chairman Sushil Chandra said the increase in numbers was a result of legislative, informative and enforcement efforts by the tax department. He added that the department will ensure that the honest taxpayer is helped at all times, while evaders will be prosecuted.
The financial year 2017-’18 recorded the best ratio of direct taxes to the Gross Domestic Product in the last 10 years, ANI reported. The direct tax-to-GDP ratio was 5.98%. Direct taxes comprised 52% of the total revenue in 2017-’18, Chandra added.
The number of returns filed grew more than 80% from 3.79 crore in financial year 2013-’14 to 6.85 crore in 2017-’18, the data showed.
The CBDT also said that the gross total income declared rose from Rs 26.92 lakh crore in 2013-’14 to Rs 44.88 lakh crore in 2017-’18.