CBDT claims there is no inconsistency in number of tax payers

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the number of individuals filing Income Tax returns has increased from 2.23 crore to 2.79 crore this year, matching with the 56 lakh new tax payer additions, as stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the statement by the tax department has led to doubting the numbers since different figures have been quoted at different points of time.
 
“The data maintained by the Income Tax Department shows that during April 1, 2017 to August 5, 2017, 2.79 crore e-returns of individual taxpayers were received as against 2.23 crore e-returns received during April 1, 2016 to August 5, 2016. Thus, the additional ITRs received in 2017 work out to be 56 lakhs,” CBDT said in a statement. “There is no inconsistency in the data provided by the government in the (different) statements as these are in different contexts and for different time periods,” the tax department statement clarified.