Jaitley puts disputes to rest with double-digit rise in tax collections

Direct tax mop ups are up 12% overall, indirect taxes are up 25%, with excise rising as much as 43%

The currency squeeze in November and December has failed to impact revenue mop up, with direct and indirect tax collections from April to December showing double-digit increases, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.

"Since there has been a considerable debate as to the impact of the currency squeeze in November and December, the revenue data becomes relevant. The direct tax collections for April-December period have increased 12.01 per cent year-on-year," Jaitley told the media here.

"The indirect tax data for April-December (2016), compared to the same figure (in 2015), has seen an overall increase of 25 per cent.

"Individually, the central excise has shown a 43 per cent increase, service tax 23.9 per cent increase and customs duty has increased by 4.1 per cent," he added.

Direct and indirect taxes for the first three quarters of current fiscal has moved up significantly, he said.

Jatiley said the demonetised notes had no role to play in the tax collections for December as people were allowed to pay taxes in the spiked currency only in November.

"In December, payment of taxes in old notes was not allowed," he said, adding that over 99 per cent central taxes were paid digitally.

Indirect tax collections in December were up 12.8 per cent over the previous month, during which the note ban was announced.

On a year-on-year basis, customs declined by 6.3 per cent this December because gold imports during the period crashed, he added.

"However, central excise, related to manufacturing, has increased by 31.6 per cent in December when compared to the same month last fiscal. Service tax during the month increased 12.4 per cent."