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Direct tax collection doubled in five years, 36% increase in the number of ITR filers
Tax Collection: Direct tax collection in India has doubled in the last five years, due to economic growth, improved tax compliance, and the use of digital technology. The number of income tax return filers has increased from 6.72 crores to 9.19 crores.
Direct tax collection in India has doubled over the past five years. The primary cause of this is the growth in the economy of the country, better tax compliance and application of digital technology. The base of income tax return (ITR) filers has grown by 36 per cent in the past five years. Though 6.72 crore ITRs were submitted in the financial year 2020-21, now the figure has risen to around 9.19 crores in 2024-25. This data was provided in the Ministry of Finance statistics.
According to the data of the Ministry of Finance, the total gross direct tax collection in 2020-21 was Rs 12.31 lakh crore. It increased to Rs 16.34 lakh crore in 2021-22. After this it reached Rs 19.72 lakh crore in 2022-23 and Rs 23.38 lakh crore in 2023-24. In 2024-25, it increased to Rs 27.02 lakh crore. This increase is the result of economic reforms and better tax collection system. The government has taken several digital steps to increase the tax base.
Technological changes have been made in the tax system in the country over time. PAN number was introduced in 1995, which made it easier to identify taxpayers and expanded the tax base. The Centralized Processing Center (CPC) was started in 2009 and the TRACES system in 2012, which helped in correcting errors in ITR process, refund issuance and TDS. The process of linking PAN with Aadhaar started in 2017, so that fake identification and duplication could be prevented.
