Direct tax collections see upward swing

Corporate tax mop-up rises 85.5%, I-T revenue up 30% during Apr-Jul.

Direct tax collections continue to be buoyant with corporate tax collections up to July registering an increase of 85.5 per cent to Rs 19,553 crore compared with Rs 10,538 crore during April-July 2005-06.

Income tax collections (inclusive of fringe benefit, banking cash and securities transaction taxes) during the first four months touched Rs 16,528 crore against Rs 11,823 crore, a jump of around 30 per cent.

The finance ministry officials said the huge jump in corporate tax collections was partly due to a low base in July last year. "Collections in July last year had dipped by around 26 per cent on account of a large amount of refunds," an official said.

The buoyancy in the corporate sector was also evident from the over-140 per cent increase in dividend distribution tax collections in the first quarter at Rs 1,160 crore, compared with Rs 480 crore during April-June 2005-06.

Officials said the Customs collections were also upbeat at Rs 26,692 crore compared with Rs 19,750 crore in April-July 2005-06 "" an increase of 35 per cent.

The mop-up from FBT, BCTT and STT is also expected to be around Rs 10,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal going by present estimates.

Collections from the fringe benefit tax is expected to touch Rs 5,000 crore for the full year, while the banking cash transaction tax is expected to garner Rs 400 crore and the securities transaction tax Rs 4,000 crore.

FBT collections during April-July was Rs 915 crore compared with Rs 583 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. BCTT was Rs 158 crore against Rs 20 crore last year while STT was Rs 1,490 crore during April-July against Rs 557 crore during April-July 2005-06.