Indirect tax collections surges 26.7%, direct tax rises 10.6% in Apr-Oct

The Government’s revenue collection during April to October of the current fiscal year has shown a strong growth, indirect tax collection surged by 26.7 percent to 4.85 lakh crore on the back of robust collection in excise duty mop-up, while direct tax collection rose by 10.6 percent to Rs 3.77 lakh crore led by increase in personal income tax. The total direct and indirect tax collections at the end of October stood at Rs 8.62 lakh crore, more than half the Rs 16.26 lakh crore target for 2016-17. The government is eyeing 12.64 per cent growth in direct tax at Rs 8.47 lakh crore for the current fiscal and 10.8 per cent in indirect tax at Rs 7.79 lakh crore.

In indirect tax collections, excise collections during April-October jumped 45.4 percent to Rs 2.14 lakh crore as compared to Rs 1.47 lakh crore during the corresponding period in the previous financial year. Service tax collections in the same period clocked a growth of 26.9 percent to 1.43 lakh crore as compared to Rs 1.12 lakh crore year-on-year bases. Net Tax collections on account of Customs during April-October 2016 stood at Rs 1.27 lakh crore as compared to Rs 1.22 lakh crore in same period in the previous year, thereby registering a growth of 4.1 percent. The net indirect tax collection till October 2016, achieved 62.4 percent of the Budget estimates for 2016-17.

On the direct tax front, the gross collection of corporate income tax (CIT) grew at 11.6 percent, while under personal income tax (PIT) it was 18.6 percent over the corresponding period last fiscal. After adjusting for refunds however, the net growth in CIT collections is 5 percent, while under PIT, it is 18.4 percent. Refunds amounting to Rs 93,836 crore have been issued during April-October 2016, up 32.2 percent from a year ago. Direct tax collection in the seven months of the current financial year accounted for 44.5 percent of the Budget estimates for 2016-17.