Gujarat’s crorepatis soared by at least 4,500 between 2021 and 2022. Against 9,300 people declaring taxable income of Rs 1 crore in 2021, 14,000 people declared the same in 2022. This translates into a 49 per cent rise in ‘crorepati’ taxpayers in the assessment year 2022-23, according to data of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
The rise is significant as the average number of the taxpayers in the Rs 1 crore-plus bracket in four preceding years was 8,200.
The corporate category also saw an addition of 1,000-odd ‘crorepatis’ as the numbers grew from 3,700 to 4,700, indicating a 28 per cent rise.
The overall tax base in Gujarat in non-corporate categories has increased by 4 per cent from 71.2 lakh taxpayers in 2021-22 to 73.8 lakh in 2022-23. Five years ago in 2018, the overall tax base was 62.5 lakh.
A large majority of 94 per cent taxpayers declared income less than Rs 10 lakh. In this category, the number of taxpayers rose by 2 per cent, while in 10 lakh and above taxable income categories, the rise was a robust 29 per cent from 3.35 lakh to 4.33 lakh.
Experts said several reasons have contributed to the rise in the number of people with higher taxable income, including lowering of corporate tax and GST leading to higher corporate returns. Annual Information Statement (AIS), which even shows stock market income, is also a reason for more returns being filed at higher income brackets .
IT interventions in income tax payments and faceless assessment scheme (FAS) have led to compliance with higher degree of precision and transparency. A tax expert said, the surge in this number of taxpayers was largely driven by corporate executives, investors and young professionals declaring their rising incomes.
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