Direct tax collection in April-August surges 33%

Collections from direct taxes in the April-August period touched ₹4.80 lakh crore, marking about 33 per cent growth over the ₹3.60 lakh crore collected during the corresponding period in the last fiscal.

In an interview with BusinessLine, Nitin Gupta, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), said he is hopeful of crossing the budget target during the current fiscal.  “The budget target for direct taxes is ₹14.20 lakh crore. Till date, we have healthy net collections of around 4.80 lakh crore after accounting for the higher refund outgo, which is 80 per cent higher than last year. There is a big buoyancy in the tax collections. If this trend continues in the second instalment as well, we do expect a fairly good collection over and above the budget target,” Gupta said.

Clear picture

During Fiscal Year 2021-22, direct taxes grew by 49 per cent to reach ₹14.10 lakh crore.

Regarding corporate tax, Gupta said it is growing at about 25-26 per cent. Asked whether this will improve further, he said, “I cannot say anything as of now. Let us wait till September 15 when we get a clear picture.” September 15 is the due date for the second instalment of advance tax, and by that day, companies are required to pay 45 per cent of the advance tax payable.

Though Gupta did not give the number of corporates who have adopted the new tax regime, he said higher overall growth is indicative of both kinds of taxpayers—those who continue with the old system and those who have adopted the new tax regime.

Earlier, the Finance Ministry had said that the gross corporate taxes of ₹8.6 lakh crore during 2021-22, as against ₹6.5 lakh crore in the preceding year, shows that the new simplified tax regime with low rates and no exemptions has “lived up to its promise, enhancing the ease of doing business for the corporate sector, stimulating the country’s economy and increasing tax revenues for the government.”

Gupta also highlighted that collections from Securities Transaction Tax (STT) have already touched ₹10,000 crore, which is half of the budget estimate. It is also around 8 per cent more than the collections of over ₹9,200 crore.

IT returns

On income tax returns, the CBDT Chief said while the number on July 31, 2022 (due date for AY 2022-23) was 6 lakh less than the number on December 31, 2021 (extended due date for AY 2021-22), the factual position is that the date was extended twice in the last fiscal.

“Subsequent to July 31, 2022, as on August 31, the number of returns filed has crossed 6 crore,” he said, clarifying that the number is not actually less this year as had been reported in some quarters. He said he is hopeful of a “very high number” by December 31 (the due date for all the taxpayers), especially because of the Annual Information Statement (AIS), which is further nudging taxpayers to file returns.

Under the updated return scheme (filing of returns with an additional pay out of 25-50 per cent of tax dues), the number of returns has touched 1 lakh, added Gupta.

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