new delhi, July 14 -- The Indian investor's hard turn to stocks, property and foreign assets after the pandemic shock has been much spoken about. Now, the numbers are showing up in the tax filings. Individuals with diverse streams of income including rent from multiple properties, capital gains from shares or property or have foreign income or assets, but are not businessmen or professionals, are the fastest growing tribe of income tax payers, indicating the changing make-up of India's tax base. Latest data from the income tax department show that after the pandemic, their share in total tax returns filed in a year has doubled to 14% in the assessment year (AY) 2024-25 . In every assessment year since 2020-21, this class remained the fastest growing set of tax return filers, showing their deeper participation in investment activities. In absolute terms, the number of income tax return 2 (ITR-2)-the form used for reporting individuals' income that is more than Rs.50 lakh which includes capital gains or rent from more than one house property or foreign income-has jumped from 4.75 million from the AY21 to 12.17 million in AY25, showed data from the department. In the AY22, ITR-2 filings swelled more than 27%, reporting the income earned in FY21. In an assessment year, the income earned in the previous financial year is reported and any pending tax is paid. In the AY23, ITR-2 filings jumped by more than 30% from the year-ago period. In the following assessment year, the growth was about 14%. In the meantime, the number of tax returns filed by individuals with salary income up to Rs.50 lakh but without any of these additional revenue streams of ITR-2 filers, grew from 31.65 million in AY21 to 35.97 million in AY25, but their share in the overall returns filed shrank from about 49% to about 43%. The trend comes in the wake of extensive use of third-party reporting of financial transactions in the economy, expanding use of taxes deducted at source to map economic activity, and opportunities given to assessees to report their income based on the transactions that are in the tax department's radar. The strong retail equity market participation by households is also seen to have contributed to the surge in ITR-2 filings. "The steady rise in ITR-2 filings points to a significant shift in the income and investment profile of Indian taxpayers," said Sonu Iyer, partner and national leader, people advisory services, tax at EY India. It reflects not only higher individual earnings but also deeper retail participation in capital markets and other investment avenues, said Iyer. "Enhanced compliance monitoring and increased transparency of financial transactions have also contributed to this trend, enabling the tax department to widen the tax base and improve reporting discipline," explained Iyer. The sharp rise in ITR-2 filings signals a significant transformation in India's tax landscape and is a strong indicator that more individuals are now actively participating in capital markets, as can be seen from the increase in the opening of new demat accounts, said Amit Maheshwari, tax partner at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm. At the end of December 2024, India had 185 million demat accounts, 33% more than reported in the year-ago period, the Economic Survey 2024-25 had pointed out....