Net Direct Tax Kitty Swells To Rs 18.4 Lakh Crore On Higher Corporate Tax Mop-Up

Net direct tax collection grew about 8.8% to over Rs 18.38 lakh crore in the current fiscal till January 11 due to slower refunds and better corporate tax mop-up.

Data released by the Income Tax Department on Monday showed that net corporate tax collection grew 12.4% to over Rs 8.63 lakh crore, and taxes from non-corporates, including individuals and HUFs, rose 6.39% to about Rs 9.30 lakh crore.

Securities Transaction Tax collection stood at Rs 44,867 crore between April 1 and January 11, recording a flat growth compared to the same period last year.

Tax Refund issuance nose-dived 17% to Rs 3.12 lakh crore during the period.

Gross direct tax collection increased 4.14% to about Rs 21.50 lakh crore till January 11 of this fiscal.

This includes gross corporate tax and non-corporate tax collection of Rs 10.47 lakh crore and Rs 10.58 lakh crore, respectively.

Rohinton Sidhwa, Partner, Deloitte India, said the 9% net collection growth is encouraging and seems to indicate that the government may be on track to achieve the year-end target. However, it is due to significantly lower refunds being released to both corporate and individual taxpayers.

'Exact details of why the trends on refunds diverging significantly from the previous year are not very apparent,' Sidhwa said.

In the current fiscal (2025-26), the government has projected its direct tax collection at Rs 25.20 lakh crore, up 12.7 per cent year-on-year.

The government aims to collect Rs 78,000 crore from STT in FY26.