# Income-tax filers rise to 8.67 crore as compliance checks expand 2026-08-10T17:46:35+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The number of income-tax return filers rose from 6.96 crore in 2021-22 to 8.67 crore in 2025-26, according to data cited by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha. Net direct-tax collections climbed from Rs 14.12 lakh crore to Rs 23.40 lakh crore over the same period. The government linked the push to PAN-Aadhaar linking, the Annual Information Statement, NUDGE messages, GST invoice checks and anti-fraud drives. LiveMint reports that GST checks included invoice matching, biometric authentication and physical verification during nationwide drives against fake registrations. Separately, The Hindu reports net direct-tax collections rose 23% to Rs 8.11 lakh crore by August 10 in the current fiscal, helped by higher non-corporate taxes and slower refunds. ## Coverage - livemint.com - thehindu.com Tags: Finance Ministry, GST, Income tax, Lok Sabha, PAN-Aadhaar, tax compliance Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/govt-tightens-tax-net-as-itr-filers-rise-24-in-five-years/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/govt-tightens-tax-net-as-itr-filers-rise-24-in-five-years/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.