Economy...

“The deposited cash is now identified with its owner giving rise to an inquiry, whether the amount deposited is in consonance with the depositor’s income,” he said.

Jaitley said about 1.8 million depositors have been identified for this enquiry after demonetisation, adding, “Many of them are being fastened with Tax and Penalties.”

He said mere deposit of cash in a bank does not lead to a presumption that it is tax-paid money.

Jaitley said the number of income tax returns filed stood at 68 million in 2017-18 as against just 38 million in March 2014. “In the last two years, when the impact of demonetisation and other steps is analysed, the Income Tax returns have increased by 19% and 25%. This is a phenomenal increase.”

The number of new returns filed after demonetisation increased in the past two years by 8.55 million and 10.7 million, he said.

Income tax collections grew at a rate of 6.6% and 9% in the two years before demonetisation while it increased by 15% and 18% in the next two years. “The same trend is visible in the third year.”

Jaitley said advance tax in the first quarter of 2018-19 increased by 44.1% for personal Income tax assesses and 17.4% in the corporate tax category. “The Income Tax collections have increased from the 2013-14 figure of Rs 6.38 lakh crores to the 2017-18 figure of Rs 10.02 Lakh crores.”

The minister also said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in the post-demonetisation period and the number of registered assessees