According to the Ministry of Finance data, the number of Income Tax returns filed till August 5 stood at 2,82,92,955 against 2,26,97,843 returns filed in the corresponding period last year. The number of Income Tax returns filed by individuals has jumped to 2,79,39,803 till August 5 as against 2,22,92,864 returns filed last year. The government has credited the increase in number of Income Tax returns filed to demonetisation and Operation Clean Money. Initially, the last date for filing Income Tax returns was set as July 31, but following complaints from people over not being able to access the online portal of Income Tax department, the last date for filing returns was extended to August 5. The Income Tax returns were filed for the financial year 2016-2017.

Source: India Today August 07, 2017 12:58 UTC