The Income Tax Department on Friday said that it had received over 7.28 crore returns as of July 31, which was the due date for filing IT returns salaried classes and entities whose accounts need not be audited. The record number is 7.5 per cent higher than the ITR filed on the same date last year.
“Out of the total ITRs of 7.28 crore filed for AY 2024- 25, 5.27 crore have been filed in the New Tax Regime compared to 2.01 crore ITRs filed in the Old Tax Regime. Thus, about 72 per cent of taxpayers have opted for the New Tax Regime, while 28 per cent continue to be in the Old Tax Regime,” the Department said.
If salaried and other non-tax audit assesses have not filed the ITR by July 31, they will have one last opportunity to do so by December 31, 2024, but with a late filing fee ranging between ₹1,000 to ₹5,000. However, those who have already filed can revise their returns by December 31, 2024, without any fee.
Meanwhile, the Department said that the filing of ITRs peaked on the last day, July 31, when around 70 lakhs were filed on a single day. The e-filing portal also observed its highest per-hour rate of 5.07 lakh of ITR filing between 19:00 and 20:00 hours on the same day. The highest per-second rate of ITR filing was 917 (July 17 at 08:13:54 am), and the highest per-minute rate of ITR filing was 9,367 (July 31 at 8:08 pm). The Department also received 58.57 lakh ITRs till 31.07.2024 from first-time filers, a fair indication of the widening tax base, it said.
This fiscal return filing was made available on day 1 (April 1) itself. Focused outreach campaigns were carried out on Social Media to encourage taxpayers to file their ITRs early. Along with this, unique creative campaigns were also carried out on different platforms. Informational Videos in 12 Vernacular languages, apart from English and Hindi, were displayed on digital platforms. Outdoor campaigns were also carried out. Such concerted efforts led to fruitful results with an increased number of filings, the Department said.
It highlighted that over 6.21 crore ITRs have been e-verified, out of which 2.69 crore ITRs for the A.Y. 2024-2025 have been processed. The e-filing Helpdesk team has handled approximately 10.64 lakh queries from taxpayers during the year up to July 31, supporting the taxpayers proactively during the peak filing period. Support from the helpdesk was provided to taxpayers through inbound and outbound calls, live chats, WebEx and co-browsing sessions. The team handled over 1.07 lakh e-mails between April 1 and July 31 and and successfully resolved 99.97 per cent queries, it claimed.
“Taxpayers are also requested to verify their unverified ITRs, if any, within 30 days of filing the ITR, the Department said. It also urged taxpayers, who, for any reason, missed filing their ITR within the due date, to complete their filing expeditiously.