NEW DELHI: In a first in recent history of tax filings, income tax e-filings in FY2019 have dropped by more than 6.6 lakh, a trend that analysts said was surprising as tax base was expected to increase post demonetisation.According to statistics put out on Income Tax Department's e-filing website, income tax e-filings in FY 2018-19 was 6.68 crore, down from 6.74 crore in the previous fiscal. E-filers in FY 2016-17 were 5.28 crore.Kotak Economic Research in an April 30 report said: "We are surprised with the decline in income tax e-filing in FY2019. "Tax filings have surprisingly plateaued in FY2019. "A focused utilization of the data on deposits during demonetization could yield better compliance, especially in the higher income brackets. "The government needs to look at further expanding the tax base (optimally using the data repository from demonetization and GST).

Source: Economic Times May 05, 2019 10:13 UTC