The Hindu Business Line : Excise duty revenues decline 3.8% in Sept

New Delhi, Oct 16 The Centre’s excise duty revenues declined 3.8 per cent in September 2008 to Rs 9,800 crore compared with Rs 10,186 crore recorded in the same month last year. This revenue collection performance is in sharp contrast to the 7.2 per cent year-on-year growth registered in September last year.

Even sequentially, the excise duty collections in September 2008 were lower than the August 2008 collections of Rs 10,013 crore. However, collections for the first half of the current fiscal (April-September 2008) registered 2.3 per cent increase at Rs 55,923 crore (Rs 54,654 crore).

Historically, the first half of the financial year showed sluggish growth rate in excise duty collections. To plug, duty leakage, the Centre has started a number of initiatives, including high impact audits. It has also tightened oversight on certain sectors that are prone to excise duty evasion.

Meanwhile, customs duty revenues continued to be robust, with collections in September 2008 at Rs 9,621 crore, reflecting a 20.6 per cent increase over Rs 7,975 crore collected in previous year. Customs duty revenues during April-September 2008 stood at Rs 57,356 crore, a 18.3 per cent increase over Rs 48,480 crore collected in the same period last year.

The Centre’s service tax collections during April-August 2008 stood at Rs 23,051 crore, which represents 25.9 per cent increase over Rs 18,316 crore collected in same period last year. In August 2008, the service tax collections stood at Rs 3,702 crore (Rs 3,273 crore in August 2007).

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