The department which reported 1.64 crore e-returns during the 2011-12 fiscal, expects that the numbers this fiscal could settle well over 3.20 crore as not only those who are mandated to file e-returns but also a number of new taxpayers will opt for e-filing their returns this time.
"The department expects e-filing to catch up with a lot of new taxpayers, including those who will now have to mandatorily file the e-returns. The numbers could well double this fiscal," a senior I-T official said.
The deadline for filing I-T returns is July 31.
E-return intermediaries, which are authorised by the I-T department to act as agents for taxpayers who want to file electronic returns, also said that they expect a boost in the number of people opting for e-filing.
"We helped 2.5-lakh taxpayers last fiscal to file their e-returns. We are targeting 5 lakh users this time and this can be achieved considering the fact that e-filing is increasingly been seen as a hassle-free service," Ankur Sharma, CEO of Taxspanner.Com, an online portal for e-filing, told PTI.
Sharma, whose portal is the largest (in terms of number of e-returns filed) intermediary among the 100 others authorised by the I-T department, said taxpayers are now getting more tech savvy and prefer to use e-filing rather than manually doing it at an I-T counter.