The country’s direct tax mop-up has exceeded Rs one-lakh-crore mark in the first five months of the financial year, on the back of growth in revenue receipts from the corporate sector. Net direct tax collections during April-August registered a growth of 13.91 per cent, at Rs 1,00,112 crore, compared with Rs 87,888 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
Growth in the collection of personal income tax in the five-month period was highest in the Patna region (Bihar and Jharkhand), at 90.16 per cent, followed by Lucknow region (UP-East), at 69.56 per cent, Guwahati region (Northeast), at 47.78 per cent, and Chandigarh region (Northwest), at 41.73 per cent.
Growth in corporation income tax collections was highest in the Bhopal region (MP-Chhattisgarh), at 185.25 per cent, followed by Delhi, at 62.62 per cent, and Nagpur and Pune regions (parts of Maharashtra), at 60.71 per cent and 51.85 per cent, respectively.
Direct tax collections in August alone rose 4.07 per cent to Rs 14,465 crore, against Rs 13,898 crore in the same month last year. Corporation income tax and personal income tax collections in August stood at Rs 6,123 and Rs 8,277 crore, respectively. Direct tax collections in July had risen by 16.8 per cent to Rs 16,972 crore, compared with Rs 14,525 crore in the month last year.
A finance ministry official said collections were always below Rs 20,000 crore in a single month, except in four months — June, September, December and March — when the instalment for the quarter was due. He said as long as the growth in a particular month was not negative there was no reason to panic.
The government has budgeted an overall tax mop-up of Rs 7,46,000 crore in the current financial year. It has set a target of collecting Rs 4,30,000 crore by the way of direct taxes alone. Direct tax collections for 2009-10 stood at Rs 3,78,000 crore. This was lower than the revised estimate of Rs 3,87,000 crore.