Direct tax mop-up crosses Rs 1 lakh cr in Q1

Belying fears of moderation in economic activities, the direct tax collections (personal income tax and corporate tax) grew by 23% to Rs 1,01,600 crore in the first quarter of current financial year.

The collections were Rs 82,300 crore in the same period last fiscal and Rs 77,500 crore in April-June 2009, showing consistent increase in revenue generation.

According to a senior revenue official in the Ministry of Finance, total corporate tax collections increased by 23% in the first quarter of the fiscal to Rs 67,100 crore from Rs 54,600 crore in the same period a year ago. It was Rs 49,200 crore in the comparative period of 2009-10.

The revenue department had expressed concern that volatility in international commodity prices and domestic inflation could have adverse impact on revenue collections, both on the direct and indirect tax fronts.

But the direct tax collections in the first quarter are more or less as per the estimates of the government.

In the Budget, the government had estimated gross tax collections (direct plus indirect) at Rs 9,32,440 crore, an increase of 24.9% year-on-year.

"About 32% growth in corporate TDS [Tax Deducted at Source] to Rs 23,500 crore in the first quarter of the financial year shows that there is a fair amount of economic activity between corporates," the official said.

Of the total Rs 67,000 crore corporate taxes, Rs 31,300 crore came as advance taxes and Rs 23,500 in form of TDS.

Corporate advance taxes in the first quarter of last fiscal were Rs 26,500 crore and TDS was 17,800 crore.

The revenue official informed that gross personal income tax (PIT) till June 18 of the fiscal was up 26% at Rs 33,400 crore from Rs 26,500 crore in the comparative period last figure.

The year-on-year growth in PIT in the same period last year was about 10.5% only.

"If the economy grows at 8%, we are confident of meeting the Rs 5.32 lakh crore direct tax collections target given to us by the Finance Minister [Pranab Mukherjee] for the fiscal," the official said.

The personal income tax collection is up to June 18 while that for the corporate tax is for full quarter.

Besides, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) aims at clearing all tax refunds this year.