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Net Widens: Taxpayers Surge by a Crore

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As government turns the heat on black money, number of returns filed jumps substantially
The number of people who filed tax returns surged by 95 lakh as the government turned the heat on black money with demonetisation and various other measures, two top government officials told ET.
The figure was in a presentation made before Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the revenue department's review on Tuesday .

“There has been an addition of about 95 lakh new taxpayers,“ said one of the officials aware of the details of the presentation.

The government has been looking to widen the tax net as barely a little over 1% of the population is said to pay income tax. As many as 5.28 crore returns were e-filed in FY16, a rise of 22% over the previous year. Some returns were filed in paper mode as well.

The income-tax department had launched a crackdown against tax evaders as part of its war against black money . It identified 18 lakh persons who had made bank depo Rs 1,000 and 500 notes after sits in old ` the November 8 demonetisation announcement that didn't match income profiles.

The department had also unearthed details of high-value purchases during the period. This data was used to identify evaders who had not filed returns despite having income or not having paid tax in line with incomes. Operation Clean Money , in the wake of demonetisation, made details of such individuals available online. This was followed by SMSes and emails seeking explanations. “A substantial chunk of these returns have been filed after the department's communication,"said another official aware of the development.

`Don't Accept Cash for Power Bills'

The government has asked states to stop accepting electricity bill payments in cash. The power ministry has told state discoms to introduce and strengthen digital payment mechanism, power secretary PK Pujari told ET.

The Economic Times New Delhi, 03rd May 2017

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