Direct tax mop-up 34% below target

The Centre would need to moblise another 34 per cent of its direct tax from the last two months of this fiscal to meet its revised revenue target for the current fiscal year.

Flash figures of actual tax collection till the end of January released by the Controller General of Accounts yesterday shows that the net direct tax collection is Rs 68,239 crore from corporation and income tax for the period April to January of 2003-04.

This is 66 per cent of the revised direct tax collection estimate of Rs 103,255 crore presented by finance minister Jaswant Singh to the Parliament this week.

The total collection of direct tax is 23.6 per cent more than the collection at the same period of 2002-03. In absolute terms it is Rs 13,046 crore more.

As per the CGA figures, the corporation tax collection has maintained its robustness to reach Rs 39,289 crore, which is 34.5 pe cent over last fiscal's level, and income tax has touched Rs 28,832 crore, which is 12.4 per cent more than the collection recorded for the same ten month period of 2002-03.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes will collect the last instalment of advance corporate tax in the month of March, and it is hopeful that it will be able to reach the raised target. It is after a decade that the CBDT is projected to overshoot its budget target.

Singh has based his impressive reduction in fiscal deficit for the current fiscal, partly on the impressive showing by corporation tax. Within direct tax, refunds continues to be at a substantial scale this year.

Till the end of January, refunds from corporate tax was Rs 15,595 crore and that from income tax was Rs 6,008 crore making it in aggregate, Rs 21,716 crore.