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Govt's direct tax kitty swells to Rs 5.57 lakh crore in April-December

Government’s direct tax kitty has swelled to Rs 5.57 lakh crore between April 1 and December 19, thereby achieving 65% of budget estimates.

The mop up from indirect tax, which comprises customs, excise and service tax, in April-November period jumped 26.2% to Rs 7.53 lakh crore. Belying fears of slowdown in industrial activity post demonetization, the indirect tax collection in November alone grew 23.1% to Rs 67,358 crore. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, irrespective of what critics had predicted, figures revealed that till November 30, there is a significant increase in indirect taxes.

“We have also tried to check the figures for the month of November which could have been adversely impacted on account of the currency replacement compared to the November of 2015. On year-to-year basis, in November 2016, for all the three indirect taxes, the collection is much high,” he said. For November alone, Customs collection grew 16.1% to Rs 20,510 crore, excise by 33.7% to Rs 29,664 crore, and service tax by 15.5% to Rs 17,178 crore.

The government is eyeing 12.64% growth in direct taxes at Rs 8.47 lakh crore for the current fiscal and 10.8% in indirect taxes at Rs 7.79 lakh crore. With Rs 5.57 lakh crore already mopped up till December 19, 65% of the budget target stands achieved. Advance tax payment till the third quarter has gone up by 14% as compared to a growth of 7.3% in the same period of 2015-16 fiscal.

Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) has seen a jump of 15% as compared to 11.43% last year. Also, collection from self assessment tax has soared by 21.14%, as against 6.47% last fiscal– reflecting results of anti black money measures undertaken by the government. Between April 1 and December 19, Income tax collection has risen to Rs 2.20 lakh crore, as opposed to Rs 1.82 lakh crore in the corresponding period of previous year.

On indirect tax front, revenue has jumped 26.2% till November 30 with central excise showing a surge of 43.5% and customs of 5.6% and service tax of 25.7%.

“On November 8, the Prime Minister asked the country to support him notwithstanding several inconveniences being suffered by people during the remonetization period. We are extremely grateful to the people of India who have in very large measure, supported the move,” Jaitley said.

Stating that the revenue figures itself are more significant, he said, “notwithstanding what the critics have predicted in all the categories till November 30, there is a significant increase in indirect taxation. In the central indirect taxes, the increase is 26.2%.”

Source: dnaindia.com