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A new record of over 7.28 crore income tax returns were filed by the July 31 deadline, the income tax department said on August 2.

The income tax returns (ITRs) filed for the assessment year 2024-25 compares to 6.77 crore filed last year, it added.

“Out of the total ITRs of 7.28 crore filed for AY 2024-25, 5.27 crore have been filed in the new tax regime compared to 2.01 crore ITRs filed in the Old Tax Regime,” the tax department said in a statement.

The filing of ITRs peaked on July 31, 2024 (the due date for salaried taxpayers and other non-tax audit cases), with over 69.92 lakh ITRs being filed on a single day.

The department also received 58.57 lakh ITRs from first-time filers, a fair indication of the widening of the tax base.

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India’s net direct tax collections grew 17.7% in 2023-24 to hit ₹19.58 lakh crore, marginally surpassing the revised estimates for the year, thanks to a surge in personal income taxes whose share of the tax kitty rose to 53.3% from 50.06% in the previous year while corporate taxes’ contribution dipped to 46.5% from 49.6%.  

Provisional data released by the Finance Ministry on Sunday also showed that the uptick in net tax collections over the final fortnight of the financial year was driven by personal income tax (PIT) and securities transaction tax (STT) collections, while the net corporate tax kitty shrank a little. PIT and STT receipts also grew at almost double the pace of corporate taxes last year.

As of March 17, net direct taxes had risen 19.88% to ₹18.9 lakh crore, with PIT and STT accounting for 51.4% of the receipts and corporate tax yielding ₹9.14 lakh crore. By March 31, PIT and STT inflows had increased by ₹73,000 crore, lifting their full-year tally to ₹10.44 lakh crore.

Although gross corporate tax collections increased from ₹10.98 lakh crore as of March 17 to ₹11.32 lakh crore by the close of the financial year, the net tax receipts from corporates, calculated after adjusting for refunds, dropped from ₹9.14 lakh crore on March 17 to ₹9.11 lakh crore.

The gross direct tax kitty for 2023-24 stood at ₹23.37 lakh crore, reflecting a growth of 18.5% over the ₹19.72 lakh crore tally in 2022-23. Of this, gross PIT and STT receipts accounted for ₹12.01 lakh crore, rising ₹76,000 crore between March 17 and 31.

Prior to refunds, gross PIT and STT collections grew 24.3% while gross corporate tax collections grew 13.06% in 2023-24. After adjusting for refunds, however, corporate tax receipts reflected only a 10.26% growth over 2022-23 figures. On the other hand, net PIT and STT receipts rose 25.33%, almost two and a half times quicker than corporate taxes’ growth.

“The Budget Estimates [BE] for direct tax revenue in the Union Budget for 2023-24 were fixed at ₹18.23 lakh crore which were revised, and the Revised Estimates [RE] were fixed at ₹19.45 lakh crore. The provisional direct tax collections [net of the refunds] have exceeded the BE by 7.40% and RE by 0.67%,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The Finance Ministry also noted that tax refunds made in 2023-24 rose 22.74% to ₹3.79 lakh crore from ₹3.09 lakh crore issued in the previous financial year.