ClearTax self-filers reporting non-salary income reached 47.3% in AY 2026-27, according to Business Standard, marking a sharp rise within the platform’s pool without establishing a nationwide trend.
Business Standard put the figure at 9.5% in AY 2022-23. The Economic Times and Moneycontrol reported the latest share as 47%, rounding it. ClearTax figures cited by Business Standard and The Economic Times include investments, business, freelance work and cryptocurrency as non-salary income. The articles do not provide separate counts for each source.
A separate measure counted filers with multiple non-salary sources: Business Standard reported this group at 24.4% in AY 2026-27, against 3.5% in AY 2022-23.
ClearTax’s return mix has shifted as well. Forms other than ITR-1 represented 62% of submissions for AY 2026-27, compared with 53% a year earlier and 40% in AY 2024-25, according to Business Standard and Moneycontrol. That split is not a direct count of side-job earners. The Income Tax Department allows eligible taxpayers with certain capital gains to use ITR-1; ITR-3 covers business or professional income, while eligible taxpayers can use ITR-4 under presumptive taxation.
Among ClearTax self-filers younger than 25, complex returns made up 75% in AY 2026-27, versus 60% in AY 2025-26, Moneycontrol reported. The outlet defines complex returns as ITR-2, ITR-3 and ITR-4. ITR-3 represented 44% of filings in this age group, up from 28%; ITR-1 accounted for 25%, down from 41%.
For women self-filers, capital-gains reporting stood at 30.5% in AY 2026-27, compared with 26.1% a year earlier, The Economic Times and Business Standard reported. Women self-filers reporting income above ₹50 lakh (₹5 million) represented 5.1%, up from 3.7%.
The figures describe ClearTax’s filing pool, not all Indian taxpayers. The Income Tax Department says AY 2026-27 concerns income earned during financial year 2025-26.
