Formalising The Indian Economy

NEW DELHI: Last week the government disclosed that the number of people filing income tax returns (ITRs) was poised to touch a new high. According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the number of ITRs filed till 31 July was 7.4 crore. Given that returns can be filed till 31 December, this number would only grow.
Tag this with the surge in the number of taxpayers in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and you have a trend: India’s tax base is growing, albeit slowly.
There is a very important subtext: Together with the rapid expansion of the digital footprint of 1 billion Indians, this reflects the growing formalisation of the Indian economy.
To unpack this phenomenon we spoke to Srinivas Jain, Executive Director and Head of Strategy, SBI Mutual Fund.