Need 26% more to meet direct tax BE

Till November, direct tax mop-up increased 13.18% y-o-y

The government has collected Rs 4,12,000 crore from direct taxes (net of refunds) till December 20 of 2013-14, which represents 13.7 per cent growth over Rs 3,63,000 crore in the corresponding period of 2012-13, the finance ministry said on Saturday. The ministry indicated that massive efforts were required to meet the Budget target.

The growth is, however, less than 18.07 per cent pegged for the entire 2013-14 in the Budget. To achieve the Budget estimates, the government has to collect 26.02 per cent more  tax from these heads — personal income tax, corporate tax, wealth tax and securities transaction tax — in the remaining period of this financial year over Rs 2.02 lakh crore mopped up in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Tax collections had grown 13.18 per cent till November of 2013-14 year-on-year and as such there is virtually same growth in December as well.

Of this, corporate tax collections are Rs 2,60,752 crore as against Rs 2,36,580 crore collected to date last year; showing a growth of 10.2 per cent, a statement by the finance ministry said.  

Personal income tax collections are Rs 1,47,987 crore as against Rs 1,22,818 crore collected, representing a 20.5-per cent rise over the period.

Securities transaction tax (STT) and wealth tax yielded Rs 3,427 crore and Rs 752 crore respectively till December 20 of 2013-14.

Advance taxes up to the December quarter has been Rs 2,02,626 crore, which is a 8.8 per cent per cent growth over the previous year's corresponding period collections. Advance tax collections from corporates have been Rs 1,76,935 crore, an increase of 8.4 per cent. This is better than the growth rate of seven per cent during the same period last year.

Advance tax collections under personal income tax head was Rs 25,686 crore, showing a rise of 11.9 per cent up to this quarter.

Tax collections hold the key to rein in the Centre’s fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2013-14. Nearly one-third of this kitty will go to the states as part of the devolution. The Centre's fiscal deficit has already touched over 84 per cent of the Budget estimate till October for  2013-14.