India's crorepati-club expands 68% in 3 years: Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi: India is now home to 81,000 individuals with disclosed income of above Rs 1 crore per annum, with this 'crorepati club' expanding by over two-thirds in last three years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) data showed Monday.

Releasing key statistics of income tax and direct taxes, the policy-making body of the IT department said the total number of crorepati taxpayers, which includes corporates, firms, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and individuals, has also seen a growth of about 60 per cent during the same time.

"The total number of taxpayers (corporates, firms, Hindu undivided families among others) showing income of above Rs 1 crore has registered a sharp increase over the three-year horizon.

"While 88,649 taxpayers had disclosed income above Rs 1 crore in the assessment year 2014-15, the figure was 1,40,139 for AY 2017-18, which is a growth of about 60 per cent," the CBDT said.

Similarly, the number of "individual" taxpayers disclosing income above Rs 1 crore had increased during the same period from 48,416 to 81,344, which translated into a growth of 68 per cent.

The latest figures take into account three years as the assessment year 2014-15 has been considered as the base year, a senior official explained.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said these numbers were a result of the Income Tax Department (ITD) putting in many legislative, administrative, informative and enforcement efforts over the last few years to educate the taxpayers for paying their due taxes.

He said the department has ushered in many technology-enabled non-intrusive methods to check tax evasion and is committed to "widen and deepen" the tax base in the country further.

The latest CBDT data also showed that growth of more than 80 per cent in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years - from 3.79 crore in 2013-14 to 6.85 crore in 2017-18.