Indirect Tax Revenue Grows 22% In April-February; Direct Tax Up 10.7%

The government's revenue collection from indirect tax during April-February grew by an impressive 22.2 percent while that of direct tax rose by 10.7 percent.

Total direct and indirect tax collections by the end of February stood at Rs 13.89 lakh crore, 81.5 percent of the target of Rs 16.99 lakh crore, as per the revised estimate for financial year 2016-17.

The total direct tax collected stood at Rs 6.17 lakh crore and indirect tax mop-up was Rs 7.72 lakh crore, led by robust collections in personal income tax and excise duty, respectively.

Collection from excise duty in the first 11 months (April 2016 to February 2017) – a reflection on manufacturing activity – registered a growth of 36.2 percent to Rs 3.45 lakh crore. Service tax revenues too recorded an increase of 20.8 percent at Rs 2.21 lakh crore. Customs mop-up came in at Rs 2.05 lakh crore, a growth of 5.2 percent.

Direct tax revenue includes corporate and personal income tax. Indirect tax takes into account mobilisation from excise, service tax and customs duty.

The gross collection of corporate income tax (CIT) grew at 11.9 percent while under personal income tax (PIT), it was 20.8 percent over the same period last fiscal.

After adjusting for refunds, however, the net growth in CIT collections is 2.6 percent while under PIT, it is 19.5 percent. Refunds amounting to over Rs 1.48 lakh crore have been issued during April-February, up 40.2 percent from a year ago.