MUMBAI: The number of people earning more than Rs 1 crore annually has jumped by 10% and those earning between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore by 22% according to the latest tax returns figure by income tax department for the year 2014-15.According to the income tax returns figures released by the income tax department, 45,027 people had a gross income between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore. Also 98,815 people had a gross income more than Rs 50 lakh but less than Rs 1 crore, the income tax analysis for 2014-15 read.Interestingly, about 3,000 people earn more than Rs 5 cr annually as per the income tax returns of 2015. This is the highest jump recorded in the income of Indians in a year. It is expected that in the coming year, 2016, the jump in crorepatis could be anywhere around 15-20%.Experts point out that in the coming years more people could be in the top bracket. “Increasingly, the number of individual tax payers with incomes between Rs 1 to Rs 5 crores per annum seems to show an accelerating change, albeit on a small base; clearly, we are moving towards the Western way of compensation and that is perhaps to be expected, also because the last mile complexities have resulted in senior management remuneration being disproportionately high,” said Ketan Dalal , Senior Tax Partner, PWC India.As per the data of the total, 54,921 people earned between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore through salaries and 24,942 people earned more than Rs 1 crore annually. Of this 928 people had a salary between than Rs 5 to Rs 10 crore, 232 people between Rs 10 crore and Rs 25 crore, 32 individuals between Rs 25 crore and Rs 50 crore, 10 people between Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore and two individuals earning more than Rs 100 crore annually.Experts say that the huge salaries are also due to the economic growth the country observed during the period and a lot of top CEOs jumping from one job to another. “During 2013-14 the economic environment was challenging and the inflation was high too, that seems to have impacted the salaries. In order to acquire talent, when people switched jobs, got joining bonuses or to sustain key & critical talent, higher performing employees have got higher retaining or performance bonuses. Further component of variable pay as a part of total compensation is steadily increasing,” said Paras Savla , partner, KPB & Associates.