Direct tax collections up sharply in Mumbai

Mumbai registered the sharpest increase in direct tax collections at Rs 48,665 crore in the first seven months of 2007-08. Compared to Rs 27,535 crore collected in the same period last fiscal, the year-on-year increase works to a near 77 per cent increase.

Other cities that saw a sharp increase in direct tax collections include Pune, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Lucknow. Cities that did not fare well in the tax collections include Bhopal, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati.

In Western India, the cities of Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur did well with direct tax collections increasing by 56 per cent, 38 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. 
 

DIRECT TAX COLLECTIONS (in Rs crore)
Head	Apr-Oct, 2008	Apr-Oct, 2007	YoY increase (%)
Corporation tax	78,785	54,072	45.71
Income Tax	43,041	31,016	38.77
STT	3,783	2,400	57.61
FBT	2,755	2,120	29.94
BCTT	311	268	15.79
Other Taxes	189	141	34.53
Total	1,28,864	90,017	43.15
Source: Central Board of Direct Taxes

However, Nagpur and Bhopal were way behind their growth targets. In fact, the Nagpur chief commissionerate, was the only direct tax centre that saw a negative growth of 0.55 per cent during the period under review.

All the chief commissionerates in South India, were well ahead of their target growths till October this fiscal. Direct tax collections at Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai and Bangalore centres were up by 39 per cent, 38 per cent, 34 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

All the commissionerates in North India were also ahead of their targets with Lucknow registering the highest increase in tax collections at 50 per cent, followed by Chandigarh at 48 per cent, Meerut at 39 per cent, Kanpur at 32 per cent and Delhi at 18 per cent.

In the East, direct tax collections were a little modest. While Kolkata and Patna managed to exceed their targets, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati missed their growth targets in the April-October period.

The overall buoyancy in tax collections has pushed direct tax collections up by 43 per cent, the highest increase in the last 16 years.

Net direct tax collections rose 43.15 per cent to Rs 1,28,864 crore in the April-October period of 2007-08, compared to Rs 90,180 crore during the same period last fiscal.

"Continued buoyancy in direct tax collections indicates healthy growth in the economy, better tax administration and improving tax compliance levels," a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) release said.

Following extension of refund banker scheme from Delhi and Patna to four other centres "" Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai "" refunds have increased by 47 per cent to Rs 6,135 crore, indicating faster processing of refund claims.