66% taxpayers opted for new ITR filing in current season: CBDT chairman

About 66 per cent of taxpayers out of the over 4 crore filers have opted for the new regime for income tax return (ITR) filing during the current season till now, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal said Wednesday.

He told PTI during a post-Budget interview that the focus of the government and the direct taxes administration is on "simplification" of the tax processes including filing of ITRs and conduct of other businesses with the Income Tax Department.

"The philosophy (of the government) is that the more you simplify, the more it will make it easy for people to comply leading to increased compliance.

"This is also reflected from the fact that, as on date, the number of returns (ITRs) that have been filed till yesterday is significantly more than the returns filed during the same time in the corresponding (last) year," Agrawal said.

Last year, the figure of 4 crore ITR filings was crossed on July 25 but this time this number was crossed on the night of July 22, he said.

He said there was