Small states and union territories such as Mizoram and Jammu & Kashmir saw a surge in women filing income-tax returns between 2019-20 and 2023-24, a sign of their economic empowerment with Mizoram posting 96% jump in number of such filers to 2,090 and J&K , a 49.2% growth to 1,17,514.
Overall, number of women filers grew consistently in the last five years across the country from 1,83,12,200 (or about 18.31 million) in AY 2019-20 to 2,29,41,987 (about 22.94 million) in AY 2023-24, registering 25.3% jump. The total number of ITRs (including individuals and corporates) filed in AY 2023-24 were 7,97,12,145 (or approximately 79.71 million). An assessment year (AY) indicates actual income and tax details of the previous fiscal year.
All north-eastern states barring Assam (7.5%) saw robust double-digit growth in women filers in the five-year period : Mizoram (96%), Nagaland (44.28%), Meghalaya (39.49%), Arunachal Pradesh (36.41%), Manipur (33.17) and Sikkim 39% . Tripura saw 22.25% growth, a notch below the national average of 25%. In absolute terms, though, the numbers in such states and UTs remained small. For instance, Ladakh saw massive jump of 583% to 205 women filers from a low base of 30 women five years ago.
An ITR is a prescribed form through which a person intimates particulars of income earned and taxes paid on such income in a financial year to the Income-Tax Department. The department is regulated by the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT), an arm of the Union finance ministry.
According to the official data, the largest number of women ITRs in absolute terms came from Maharashtra with 36,83,457 filers in AY24 registering about 23% growth in five years, followed by Gujarat (22,50,098 with 24.4% growth) and Uttar Pradesh (20,43,794 with 29.2% growth).
Similar growth trends have been recorded in other major states. The number of women ITR filers jumped by over 20% in Tamil Nadu from 12,92,028 in AY20 to 15,51,769 in AY24. Karnataka saw 20% jump from 11,34,903 to 14,30,345, Punjab by 36.23% from 9,70,801 in AY20 to 13,22,580 AY24 and Rajasthan by 25.49% to 13,52,202.