The finance ministry on Monday said there was growth of 19 per cent in income-tax returns (ITRs) electronically filed for the assessment year 2018-19 (AY19), compared to those in 2017-18 (AY18).

The ministry said a total of 66.8 million returns were e-filed in FY19, which included 64.9 million for AY19.

On the other hand, a total 67.4 million returns were e-filed in 2017-18 (FY18), which included 54.7 million for AY18.

The statement came amid some reports that the number of returns e-filed in FY19 saw a decrease on yearly basis.

According to the data released by the ministry, fewer returns — 1.9 million — were filed in FY19 for earlier years than 12.7 million in FY18.

This, the ministry explained, was due to an amendment in the I-T Act, which mandated that a revised return could be furnished only up to the end of the relevant assessment year. The amendment was effective from April 1, 2018. As such, only 1.4 million returns pertaining to AY18 were filed in FY19, as these were the revised returns for the relevant assessment year.

The ministry also said the number of paper returns for AY18 stood at 920,000, which constituted 1.5 per cent of the total filed. On the other hand, 480,000 paper returns were filed for FY19, which accounted for 0.6 per cent of the total submitted. It is evident that most of the taxpayers have steadily switched to e-filing which is clear from the dwindling numbers of paper returns filed for AY19, compared to earlier years.