Indirect tax mop-up rises 25% in Sept

The Centre's indirect tax collection rose a healthy 25 per cent to Rs 15,132.65 crore in September in the wake of revenue from Customs, excise and service taxes registering a growth of over 20 per cent each.

Growth in cumulative revenue collection from indirect taxes during the first six months of the current fiscal was, however, lower at 12.23 per cent, amounting to Rs 74,510.45 crore, an official release said here.

Customs duty collected during September stood at Rs 5,423.85 crore, showing an increase of about 30 per cent from Rs 4,177.08 crore in the corresponding period of 2003-04.

Revenue department officials told Business Standard that this was expected to pick up in the coming months. "The usual trend is that Customs duty collection picks up after September," an official said.

Excise duty mop-up was Rs 9,032.58 crore in September this year, 22 per cent higher than Rs 7,428.61 crore in the year-ago period.

Service tax collection during the month stood at Rs 676.22 crore, registering about 37 per cent growth from Rs 494.32 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

During the first half of this fiscal, Customs duty mop-up was Rs 25,216.91 crore, registering a near 9 per cent rise from Rs 23,167.96 crore in April-September 2003.

Revenue from excise duty grew by over 10 per cent to Rs 44,494.14 crore during the first six months, while that from service tax rose by a whopping 71 per cent to Rs 4,799 crore.

The government also realised Rs 109.64 crore from "unscrupulous" manufacturers who were evading excise duties and issued notices demanding duty of Rs 1,234 crore. The major commodities that have been found to be "evasion prone" were automobile components and parts, iron and steel products, pan masala, gutkha, polyester yarn and bulk drugs.