The number of taxpayers with income disclosures of over 1 crore, increased by 60 per cent since the assessment year 2014-15 The Hindu Business Line has reported. According to the latest data released by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) the total number of taxpayers with income of over one crore, increased by 60 per cent to 1.40 lakh during the last three years.

Experts have argued that this unprecedented uptick in disclosures by the affluent sections of Indian society, can be attributed to demonetisation.

The board also mentioned that while the number of total salaried taxpayers increased by 37 per cent between 2014-15 and 2017-18 assessment years (AY), the number of total non-salaried taxpayers increased by 19 per cent.

Signalling the outstanding performance of corporate India and the robust economic health of the country, the average tax paid by the companies increased by over 55 per cent.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra noted that the proportion of direct taxes in the overall revenue share is the highest and stands at 52 per cent at present. According to the Economic Survey of India 2017-18, greater the contribution of direct taxes to total taxes, the better it is for an economy as it promotes greater involvement of taxpayers in the public affairs and increased transparency.