During 2004-05, nearly 79.76 lakh taxpayers (nearly 26 per cent of the 3.08 crore tax payers) did not file returns.

This figure is a source of discomfort for the revenue department, as it has set its heart on adding 50 lakh new assessees (a 15 per cent increase) during fiscal 2005-06.

An internal committee of the department has highlighted the huge gap between the number of assessees and actual filers.

"Though the number of stop filers has declined from 81.96 lakh in 2000-01 to 79.76 lakh in 2004-05, the gap between the assessees on the department's roll and the returns actually filed is still quite large," the committee headed by chief commissioner B P Sah said, in a report on the tax return preparers scheme.

The committee said the trained tax return preparers would not only bring new taxpayers into the tax net, but also reduce the gap between the number of taxpayers and those who actually file their returns of income.

It added that even if all returns of the 50 lakh new taxpayers were prepared by the tax return preparers (to be reimbursed Rs 250 per return), the cost of the scheme would be around Rs 125 crore (rs 1.25 billion) for an expected collection of Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion).

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