Indirect tax mop-up zooms 43% to Rs 56,930 cr in Q1

Indirect tax collection soared by a whopping 43 per cent to Rs 56,930 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal on the back of an upswing in industrial activity.

The revenue from customs, excise and service tax, which make up the indirect taxes, during the April-June quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs 56,930.15 crore, up from Rs 39,693.78 crore in the year-ago period, a finance ministry official told PTI.

Out of the total indirect tax collections, realisation from customs zoomed by 60 per cent to Rs 28,135 crore and excise by 55 per cent to Rs 19,536 crore. Service tax collection, however, declined by 3 per cent to Rs 9,258 crore during the reporting quarter.

The government has budgeted an overall tax mop-up of Rs 7.46 lakh crore during this fiscal. While Rs 3.16 lakh crore of this are expected to be realised from the indirect taxes front, Rs 4.3 lakh crore are expected to be collected from direct taxes, which mainly consist of corporate tax and personal income taxe.

Sources attributed the higher indirect tax collection to partial withdrawal of the stimulus measures in the Budget, besides economic recovery witnessed in the current fiscal. Rising prices of crude oil in the international market also contributed to higher realisation from customs.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Budget raised excise duty from 8 per cent to 10 per cent and also increased duties on crude oil and petroleum products. The minister, however, did not raise the service tax rate retaining it at 10 per cent.

The overall economic growth in the current fiscal is estimated at 8.5 per cent, up from 7.4 per cent in the previous fiscal. As per the latest figures, industrial production in April, the first month of the fiscal, jumped to 17.6 per cent.

Reflecting the overall economic buoyancy, direct tax collection, which include corporate tax and personal income tax, rose by 15 per cent to Rs 68,675 crore. Corporate tax collection soared by 21.65 per cent to Rs 43,439 crore during the first quarter.