Taxpayers and the Covid impact

Govt data on direct taxes points to ways of expanding the tax net

Have more Indians come under the income-tax net over the last few years? The latest data from the finance ministry’s income tax department provides an answer to this question and points to many other interesting trends. It also adds a perspective to the direction and effectiveness of the Union government’s income-tax collection efforts since the formation of the Narendra Modi government in May 2014.

Of course, the answer to the question raised above is categorically in the affirmative. In 2013-14, the last year of the Manmohan Singh government, an estimated 30.5 million individuals filed their tax returns. Nine years later, in