Taxpayers get tech-savvy, 91.5 lakh file returns online

If the numbers are anything to go by, it certainly looks like taxpayers have become tech-savvy.

If the numbers are anything to go by, it certainly looks like taxpayers have become tech-savvy.

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According to figures provided by the income tax (I-T) department, in a country of more than three crore taxpayers, more than 30% have filed their I-T returns electronically instead of filing them in paper.

In the just concluded financial year (2010-2011), 91.5 lakh people filed their income tax (I-T) returns online in the country, an increase of 80% from 2009-10. In 2009-10, 50.7 lakh people had filed their returns online.

In other words, the number of taxpayers who filed e-returns in 2010-2011 is 10 times more than the number of taxpayers who filed e-returns in the previous year.

The largest number of e-returns were filed in Maharashtra. In the state,18.7 lakh people filed returns online this year. This constitutes 20.4% of the total online returns filed in the country.

Maharashtra is followed by Gujarat where 11.3 lakh people filed returns electronically. Delhi, which held the number two position till the previous financial year, slipped to the third position with around nine lakh people filing returns online in 2010-2011.

What has surprised the I-T department is that out of the total returns filed online, 77.8% or 71.2 lakh taxpayers are from the voluntary category; those who have no compulsion to file returns electronically. Electronic filing of returns is compulsory for corporates and firms or business groups having an income of more than Rs40 lakh per annum.

“Such large numbers from the voluntary category shows that people prefer the online system of filing returns over paper filing,” a senior I-T official said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

He said that one of the reasons for the high number of online filing of returns is the introduction of the “tax return preparer” (TRP) scheme where agents have been authorised to charge modest fees for filing returns online for taxpayers. “Also online filing of returns ensures that people don't have to stand in queues,” the official said.