With the Centre tightening the screws on black-money holders, the number of income-tax returns (ITRs) filed this fiscal year has risen nearly 25 per cent.

According to official data released on Monday, the total number of ITRs filed till August 5 grew 24.7 per cent to 2.82 crore, as against 2.26 crore during the corresponding period of 2016-17.

The number of returns filed by individuals rose 25.3 per cent to 2.79 crore, as against 2.22 crore in the previous fiscal year.

“This clearly shows that substantial number of new tax payers have been brought into the tax net subsequent to demonetisation,” said the Finance Ministry.

August 5 was the last day for filing income-tax returns after the deadline was extended from July 31.

The Income-Tax Department had launched ‘Operation Clean Money’ to look into suspicious cash deposits during the note-ban period.

Taxpayers also had to declare cash deposits of over ₹2 lakh made in their bank accounts during the demonetisation window.

In addition, they were required to link their Permanent Account Numbers with their Aadhaar numbers, and quote the 12-digit biometric identity in their returns.

Direct tax collections up The Finance Ministry’s statement further said the effect of demonetisation was also visible in direct tax collections.

As of August 5, advance tax collections of personal income tax had risen 41.79 per cent. Similarly, personal income tax under self assessment grew 34.25 per cent from the year-ago figures.

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