More than 5.29 crore income tax returns (ITR) have been filed by taxpayers for the financial year 2017-18, within the deadline of 31 August 2018, according to a PTI report. This means that there has been an increase of more than 60 percent in the number of filings from the previous year.

The total number of ITRs filed by the taxpayers in the assessment year 2018-19 stands at 5,29,66,509, the report said citing officials. The IT Department informed PTI that it received over 22 lakh returns, largely over the online or e-filing mode, on the last day of e-filing till 7 pm.

The deadline to file ITR was extended from 31 July to 31 August for all individual taxpayers. It has been further extended to 15 September for residents of the state of Kerala that faced its worst flood in a century in August.

The final reconciliation of the numbers, after the end of the general deadline for filing of ITR will be done over the next few days. Last year, about 3.2 crore ITRs were filed, the officials said.

The officials attributed the increase in the number of returns filed this time to largely two causes: the expansion in the tax base due to demonetisation (of November 2016) and the first time decision to impose a monetary penalty on late filers of ITRs. These factors have increased the tax compliance rate, they said.