Data released by the Income Tax Department showed that the number of e-returns filers grew by more than 59 percent in the April to October period to 6 crore. The last date for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2017-18 was extended to 31 August for individual filers and to 31 October for taxpayers that are required to audit their accounts. In the previous year, the number of taxpayers was recorded at 3.8 crore.

The number of e-returns filed by salaried individuals was increased by 45 percent. This sector constitutes for the largest part of the total number of e-filers. Other categories also showed growth between 50 to 85 percent during this period.
The government estimates the direct tax collection for the year 2017-18 to be Rs 11.5 lakh crore, a 14.4 percent increase from the previous year. A sizeable number of the population pays taxes without filing returns, that is through TDS (tax deducted at source).

Last week, PTI reported that the about 75 lakh new tax filers were added to the taxpayers list in the country and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hopes to add 1.25 crore fresh tax filers by the end of March 2019.