New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS): A record number of 8.18 crore Income-tax Returns (ITRs) have been filed for the assessment year (AY) 2023-2024 up to December 31, 2023, up from 7.51 crore ITRs filed during the same period of the preceding year, marking a 9 per cent increase as compared to the total number of ITRs filed for AY 2022-23, the Income Tax Department said on Monday.

The total number of audit reports and other forms filed during the period is 1.60 crore, as against 1.43 crore audit reports and forms filed in the corresponding period of the preceding year, a statement issued by the I-T Department said.

It is heartening to note that a large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their financial transactions by viewing their annual information statement (AIS) and taxpayer information summary (TIS).

A substantial portion of the data for all ITRs was prefilled with data pertaining to salary, interest, dividend, personal information, tax payment including TDS related information, brought forward losses, MAT credit, etc to further ease compliance by taxpayers. The facility was used extensively, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs, the statement said.

Further, during the financial year 2023-2024, a digital e-pay tax payment platform - TIN 2.0 - was made fully functional on the e-filing portal, replacing the OLTAS payment system.

This enabled user-friendly options for e-payment of taxes such as internet banking, NEFT/RTGS, OTC, debit card, payment gateway and UPI.

The TIN 2.0 platform has enabled real time credit of taxes to taxpayers which made ITR filing easier and faster, the statement added.