The jump in tax collection indicates that the government strategy of covering more in the tax net is proving to be successful.
The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to December, 2018 show that gross collections are at Rs 8.74 trillion which is 14.1% higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year.
Refunds amounting to Rs.1.30 trillion have been issued during April, 2018 to December, 2018, which is 17% higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year. Net collections (after adjusting for refunds) have increased by 13.6% to Rs. 7.43 trillion during April – December, 2018. The net Direct Tax collections represent 64.7% of the total budget estimates of direct taxes for the financial year 2018-19 at Rs 11.50 trillion.
So far as the growth rate for corporate income tax (CIT) and personal income tax (PIT) is concerned, the growth rate of gross collections for CIT is 14.8% while that for PIT (including STT) is 17.2%. After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 16 % and that in PIT collections is 14.8%. It is pertinent to mention that collections of the corresponding period of financial year 2017-18 also included extraordinary collections under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016 amounting to Rs 10,844 crore (third and last installment of IDS), which do not form part of the current year’s collections.
The government collected Rs 3.64 trillion as advance tax, which is 14.5% higher than the advance tax collections during the corresponding period of last year. The growth rate of corporate advance tax is 12.5% and that of PIT advance tax is 23.8%.
