NEW DELHI, Sep 14: The Income Tax Department has announced that over 6 crore income tax returns (ITRs) have been filed so far for Assessment Year (AY) 2025–26.
Sharing the milestone on X (formerly Twitter), the department thanked taxpayers and tax professionals for their continued support.
With the September 15 deadline approaching, the department urged those yet to file to act quickly to avoid last-minute rush and penalties.
To assist taxpayers, the department has kept its helpdesk active 24×7, offering support through phone calls, live chat, WebEx sessions, and social media.
This year’s deadline was extended from July 31 to September 15 for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), and entities not requiring audits, due to major changes introduced in ITR forms in April and May.
These changes required backend updates to filing utilities and systems.
The rise in ITR filings reflects increasing tax compliance and a growing taxpayer base.
In AY 2024–25, a record 7.28 crore returns were filed by July 31, up 7.5% from the 6.77 crore returns filed the previous year.
To streamline the process, the department introduced updated online filing utilities.
ITR-1 and ITR-4, designed for small and medium taxpayers, were enabled in June, followed by ITR-2 in July for individuals and HUFs with capital gains but no business income. (IANS)