Small states and union territories such as Mizoram and Jammu & Kashmir saw a surge in women filing income-tax returns between 2019-20 and 2023-24, a sign of their economic empowerment with Mizoram posting 96% jump in number of such filers to 2,090 and J&K , a 49.2% growth to 1,17,514.
Overall, number of women filers grew consistently in the last five years across the country from 1,83,12,200 (or about 18.31 million) in AY 2019-20 to 2,29,41,987 (about 22.94 million) in AY 2023-24, registering 25.3% jump. The total number of ITRs (including individuals and corporates) filed in AY 2023-24 were 7,97,12,145 (or approximately 79.71 million). An assessment year (AY) indicates actual income and tax details of the previous fiscal year.
All north-eastern states barring Assam (7.5%) saw robust double-digit growth in women filers in the five-year period : Mizoram (96%), Nagaland (44.28%), Meghalaya (39.49%), Arunachal Pradesh (36.41%), Manipur (33.17) and Sikkim 39% . Tripura saw 22.25% growth, a notch below the national average of 25%. In absolute terms, though, the numbers in such states and UTs remained small. For instance, Ladakh saw massive jump of 583% to 205 women filers from a low base of 30 women five years ago.
An ITR is a prescribed form through which a person intimates particulars of income earned and taxes paid on such income in a financial year to the Income-Tax Department. The department is regulated by the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT), an arm of the Union finance ministry.
{{/usCountry}}An ITR is a prescribed form through which a person intimates particulars of income earned and taxes paid on such income in a financial year to the Income-Tax Department. The department is regulated by the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT), an arm of the Union finance ministry.
{{/usCountry}}According to the official data, the largest number of women ITRs in absolute terms came from Maharashtra with 36,83,457 filers in AY24 registering about 23% growth in five years, followed by Gujarat (22,50,098 with 24.4% growth) and Uttar Pradesh (20,43,794 with 29.2% growth).
Similar growth trends have been recorded in other major states. The number of women ITR filers jumped by over 20% in Tamil Nadu from 12,92,028 in AY20 to 15,51,769 in AY24. Karnataka saw 20% jump from 11,34,903 to 14,30,345, Punjab by 36.23% from 9,70,801 in AY20 to 13,22,580 AY24 and Rajasthan by 25.49% to 13,52,202.