Income Tax Department Witness A Seven-Fold Increase - Aug 11, 2008

The Income Tax department has witnessed a seven-fold increase in the number of people using the paperless facility since last year. While 8.85 per cent tax payers filed their returns through the electronic payment facility this year, it was only 1.16 per cent last year. The facility is also secured against possible data loss.

Additionally, the number of e-returns went up by 12 times as 12.49-lakh tax payers chose the electronic medium to pay their taxes as compared to a mere 1.46-lakh tax payers during last year. Maharashtra topped the list of e-returns with 278,112 returns while Delhi contributed 153,992 and Karnataka with 144,287. Tamil Nadu registered 118,354 e-returns and 115,798 filed e-returns in Gujarat till July 31 this year. The tally comprises both voluntary returns (individuals and non corporate) and mandatory returns(corporates &large firms). Transmission of data through this facility is processed through a fully encrypted website and has a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) authentication. The servers of the department received 31,740 returns per hour at peak rate, utilising a peak bandwith of 53 mbps of the internet to recieve the same data. The e-returns are filed in a one-page ITR-V form which also bears acknowledgment and verification details along with the PAN number of the tax payer.