81,344 crorepatis in India, count up 68% in three yrs

New Delhi, October 22 

India is now home to 81,000 individuals with disclosed income of above Rs 1 crore per annum, with this 'crorepati club' expanding by over two-third in the past three years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) data showed on Monday.

Releasing key statistics of income tax and direct taxes, the policy-making body of the I-T department said the total number of crorepati taxpayers, which includes corporates, firms, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and individuals, has also seen a growth of about 60% during the same time period.

"The total number of taxpayers (corporates, firms, HUFs among others) showing income of above Rs 1 crore has registered a sharp increase over the three-year horizon.

"While 88,649 taxpayers had disclosed income above Rs 1 crore in assessment year 2014-15, the figure was 1,40,139 for AY 2017-18, which is a growth of about 60%," the CBDT said.

Similarly, the number of "individual" taxpayers disclosing income above Rs 1 crore had increased during the same period from 48,416 to 81,344, which translated into a growth of 68%.

The latest figures take into account a time period of three years as assessment year 2014-15 has been taken as the base year, a senior official explained.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said these numbers were a result of the Income Tax Department (ITD) putting in a number of legislative, administrative, informative and enforcement efforts over the last few years to educate the taxpayers for paying their due taxes.

He said the department has ushered in a number of technology-enabled non-intrusive methods to check tax evasion and is committed to "widen and deepen" the tax base in the country further. — PTI

Thousands under lens for illegal foreign assets

• The I-T Department has launched a major operation to investigate cases of illegal funds and properties stashed abroad by Indians and may invoke the new anti-black money law for strict criminal action in many such cases
• The department is investigating offshore bank deposits and purchase of assets by “thousands of Indians”
• Officials said the taxman is working on such cases across the country and this was part of a major “concerted” action against black money

80% jump in number of returns filed

Number of returns filed in the past four years have also increased from 3.79 crore in 2013-14 to 6.85 crore in 2017-18, a growth of more than 80% 

Net direct tax collection rises 15.7%

• The net direct tax collection grew by 15.7% on year-on-year basis to reach Rs 4.89 lakh crore in the current fiscal till third week of October

• This marks over 42% of the full-year direct tax collection target of Rs 11.5 lakh crore for the fiscal ending March 31, 2019