Indirect taxes mopped up Rs 2.46 lakh cr in FY10: govt

The Centre mopped up Rs 2.46 lakh crore from indirect taxes in the last fiscal, as much as Rs 2,000 crore more than the revised target, despite stimulus packages.

But it collected Rs 3.80 lakh crore from direct taxes against the revised estimate of Rs 3.87 lakh crore, Union Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra said at a function hosted by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry today.

However, Mitra clarified that these were only provisional figures, and the final ones would be released by the Controller General of Accounts.

Sources said that direct tax collections would go up further when final figures come in.

Estimates of indirect tax collections were revised down to Rs 2.44 lakh crore last fiscal, from the Rs 2.69 lakh crore estimated at the time of the Budget.

While the customs duty mop-up target was scaled down by Rs 3,523 crore to Rs 84,477 crore, excise duty collection was reduced by Rs 4,477 crore to Rs 1.02 lakh crore.

Similarly, service tax collection estimates were cut by Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 58,000 crore.

Sources said this had happened because the cut in excise duty by 6 per cent and service tax by 2 per cent had hit the exchequer drastically. Besides, the slowdown in demand had cut the need for greater imports, affecting customs duty collections.

The government had set the target for direct tax collection at Rs 3.70 lakh crore in the 2009-10 budget, but later revised it to Rs 3.87 lakh crore.

For the current fiscal, the government has estimated that Rs 3.15 lakh crore would be collected through indirect taxes. Out of this, Rs 1.32 lakh crore is likely to come from excise duties, Rs 1.15 lakh crore from customs and Rs 68,000 crore from service tax.

The government, during 2010-11, proposes to mop up about Rs 4.30 lakh crore through direct taxes. Of this, Rs 1.28 lakh crore is expected from income tax, despite widening of tax slabs, Rs 3.01 lakh crore from corporate tax, and Rs 603 crore from wealth tax.