In tax records, the marked rise of companies reporting zero income

Fewer than 1,000 firms have reported income of more than Rs 500 crore

The number of companies filing Income Tax returns topped 1 million for the second year in a row in assessment year 2023-24. A majority of them reported zero income.

Fewer than 600,000 companies filed Income Tax returns in assessment year 2012-13. The assessment year typically captures income recorded in the previous financial year; all the yearly data in this analysis refers to the assessment year. More than 1.02 million companies filed returns in 2022-23. It rose to 1.07 million in 2023-24, according to data released on Tuesday. Over 600,000 companies or 56.5 per cent of the total