The Central Board of Direct Taxes expects to achieve and exceed the tax targets set during the Union Budget 2023, amid a slowdown in corporate tax collections seen so far.
Net collections, as of date, stand at Rs 9.57 lakh crore, Nitin Gupta, chairman of CBDT, told BQ Prime in an interview. This marks 53% of the total budget estimates for direct taxes for fiscal 2024.
The department is looking at a target of Rs 18.23 lakh crore, with corporate income taxes expected to reach Rs 9.22 lakh crore and personal income tax at Rs 9 lakh crore.
The pace of corporate tax collection is not a worry, Gupta said. “We are in a good position... We are not concerned about the lesser growth of corporate tax collections; we expect it to still grow," he said.
According to tax experts, the lower pace of corporate tax collection can be linked to India Inc.'s reaction to slow global growth and reflect their waiting and backloading of tax payments to the second half of the year.
Corporate taxes were growing at a net rate of 12.3%, while personal taxes grew at a net rate of 32%, Gupta said. This puts the overall growth rate at 21.82%, he said.
#CBDT Chairman Nitin Gupta talks to @_janani_jana about the pace of collections, the state of refunds and the confidence the department has towards exceeding budget estimates. @IncomeTaxIndia
Read: https://t.co/GGQ0PrwOIx pic.twitter.com/WnrJK7Ym28Refund Turnaround Time Down To 10 Days
The chairman also said that currently, the processing time of refunds has reduced from 16 days in the previous year to 10 days in the current year.
“There has been a lot of traction and appreciation in terms of filing experience,” Gupta said, citing taxpayer feedback on social media.
Of the total returns filed at 7.27 crore, the department has processed 6.8 crore verified returns, according to data on its website.
Gupta estimated 30 lakh eligible returns to be processed now and urged taxpayers to check for notices and messages from the department if they are facing a non-receipt of refunds.
There may be mismatches in bank account details, IFSC code, typos, etc., which can halt refunds, he explained.
Figures At A Glance
According to official data as on Oct. 9, direct tax mop-up stands as follows:
Gross collections: Rs 11.07 lakh crore.
Net collections: Rs 9.57 lakh crore.
Refunds: Rs 1.50 lakh crore.
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