Jump in Centre's tax collection; tops 12 lakh-cr so far this fiscal

The Union government’s direct-tax collection has grown by 15.41%, after tax refunds, to ₹12.1 trillion so far this financial year, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Monday.

The Tax Department issued ₹2.91 trillion in refunds during the period, a 53% increase from the same period a year ago. Gross direct tax collection before adjusting for refunds grew 21.2% to ₹15 trillion in the April 1 to November 11 period. 

Corporate tax collection after adjusting for refunds stood at ₹5.1 trillion over this period, up from ₹4.79 trillion in the same period a year ago.

The government received non-corporate tax revenue, comprising mainly personal income tax, of ₹6.61 trillion during the period, after adjusting for refunds. In the same period last year, the government collected ₹5.48 trillion in non-corporate tax.

Securities transaction tax contributed ₹35,923 crore so far this financial year, 90% more than the ₹18,909 crore collected in the same period a year ago, CBDT data showed. 

So far, the tax department has collected 55% of its ₹22 trillion direct-tax collection target for the full financial year. The 15.41% growth in net direct tax revenue collected so far this year is faster than the 12.8% growth rate assumed in the full-year budget presented in July. This gives comfort to policymakers on achieving the full-year target. 

Strong growth

The government’s direct-tax revenue receipts have seen strong growth in recent years thanks to a growing tax base. Extensive data collection, wide use of taxes deducted or collected at source, pre-filling of tax return forms, restrictions on the use of cash, and promotion of digital payments have helped the government increase direct tax collection.

Sandeep Sehgal of AKM Global noted: “A fair share of credit can be given to the government’s efforts in rationalising direct-tax provisions and in bringing tax certainty among the investor community. Key steps such as dispute resolution schemes and digitisation of tax compliance procedures have played a key role in boosting direct-tax collections. The cost of collection has also gone down, which is likely the result of the use of technology and artificial intelligence tools by the tax department.”

(By arrangement with livemint.com)