Stock market rally boosts direct tax mop-up

Collections through securities transaction tax surge 44%; overall growth in direct tax collection at 11%

Direct tax collections during the first 10 months of the current financial year rose 11 per cent to Rs 5.78 lakh crore, compared to the April-January period of FY14 when collections stood at Rs 5.19 lakh crore, the Income Tax department said on Friday.

With this, the government has been able to achieve 78 per cent of the budgeted target for FY15, pegged at Rs 7.36 lakh crore from direct taxes. However, the government is lagging in indirect tax collections where it has been able to achieve only 68 per cent of the budgeted target.

Securities transaction tax was the largest contributor to the direct tax kitty this year, which showed a 44 per cent growth at Rs 5,556 crore thanks to a stock market rally. During the 10-month period, corporate tax collections grew 11 per cent at Rs 3.64 lakh crore against Rs 3.28 lakh crore in the year-ago period. Personal income tax collections, too, rose 11 per cent to Rs 2.07 lakh crore from Rs 1.86 lakh crore. The net direct tax collection rose at a lower pace of 6.21 per cent to Rs 4.74 lakh crore, against Rs  4.46 lakh crore a year ago, primarily on account of higher refunds.

Advance tax collections have shown a higher growth rate of 13.26 per cent against growth of 8.71 per cent.

Growth in tax deducted at source, or TDS, is 7.79 per cent against 16.65 per cent in the same period last year.

Self-assessment tax showed a growth of 22.22 per cent against 10.94 per cent. The growth in regular tax is 17.25 per cent against 24.14 per cent. In the current financial year, the government aims to collect Rs 13.6 lakh crore as tax revenue. To meet the target, there should be a 16 per cent growth in direct taxes and 20 per cent growth in indirect taxes.