Direct tax receipts up 39% in Q1

Belying apprehensions of economic slowdown impacting government revenue, direct tax collections have gone up by 38.6% in the first quarter this fiscal at Rs 57,373 crore compared to Rs 41,391 crore in the year-ago period. These are collections net of refunds. “The growth in direct taxes has been maintained despite much larger refund payouts at Rs 11,578 crore against Rs 7,302 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal,” a Central Board of Direct Taxes statement said. Interestingly, growth in gross direct tax collections stood at 41.3% at Rs 68,951 crore, which is the highest in last three years. Gross collections had growth by 19.9% at Rs 48,693 crore in 2007-08 and 38.8% at Rs 40,621 crore in 2006-07. Direct taxes comprise tax on corporate income and tax on personal income. During the first three months, corporate taxes grew by 32.65% and stood at Rs 34,566 crore against Rs 26,058 crore in first quarter last fiscal. Personal income tax, fringe benefit tax (FBT), securities transaction tax (STT) and banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) grew by 48.84% and touched Rs 22,782 crore as against Rs 15,306 crore a year ago. FBT collections were up by 38.74 %, while those from STT and BCTT grew at 22.11 % and 21.03%, respectively, the statement said. Direct tax receipts had risen by about 70% in the first two months on account of some spill-over from last fiscal in April and lower refunds, besides continued growth. Among regions, direct tax growth in Mumbai and Delhi was 40.19% and 53.57%, respectively. Other regions with high tax growth are Nagpur (74.08%); Kochi (68.08 %); Bengaluru (47.26%) and Kolkata (45.30%). Tax deducted or collected at source continued to drive direct tax collection with a growth of about 50% while self-assessment tax grew at 35%, indicating continued improvement in tax compliance and tax administration. The cost of direct tax collection, on the other hand, has declined to an all-time low of 0.54% during 2007-08, which is among the lowest in the world. Upbeat over the robust tax collection, finance minister P Chidambaram had recently asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes to revise the Budget estimate of Rs 3,65,000 crore upwards to Rs 4,00,000 crore. In the last fiscal, the government had mopped up revenue of Rs 3,14,000 crore on account of collections from direct taxes. – www.economictimes.indiatimes.com