Tax dept may pitch for lower I-T target when next govt presents Budget

CBDT feels 30% growth in income-tax not feasible

The income-tax (I-T) department will likely pitch for a reduction in the I-T target for the current fiscal year when the next government presents the Budget, because the previous fiscal year’s target was missed.

If unchanged, the department may have to chase a personal I-T collection growth rate of 29 per cent, which is even higher than the 26 per cent growth in 2016-17 (FY17), the year of demonetisation and the income-declaration schemes, when collections shot up because people regularised their unaccounted income by paying higher levies.

“It makes sense to have a realistic direct tax collection target for 2019-20 (FY20). Considering