3% Indians filed returns in 2015-16, 82L had non-taxable income
Reports released by the Income Tax department have some surprising revelations. In 2015-16, only 4.07cr Indians filed I-T returns; that's roughly 3% of India's 1.02bn-strong population. Of these, 82L had zero taxable income. Only 1,000 declared income between Rs. 5-10cr. Ironically, luxury cars like Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW registered annual sales of 35,000 units. The detailed report is interesting indeed.
Number of crorepatis rose but overall income fell by Rs.50,000cr
Of the 4.07cr that filed I-T returns, 82L declared income less than Rs. 2.5L, a non-taxable slab. The maximum, 1.33cr individuals, were in the Rs. 2.5-3.5L income slab, the lowest tax bracket. Surprisingly, the number of individuals reporting income of over Rs. 1cr rose 23from 48,417 (2014-15) to 59,830, but their total income fell from Rs. 2.05L crore (2014-15) to Rs. 1.54L crore.
Seven earned above Rs. 500cr last year, only one now
The number of individuals in the Rs.100-500cr slab rose from 17 to 31, but that in the over Rs. 500cr slab fell from seven to just one. In 2015-16, the overall income declared by taxpayers was Rs. 21.27L crore, up from Rs. 18.41L crore the previous year. Compared to the 82L non-taxable filers this time, 1.37cr had declared income below Rs. 2.5L last year.
