Direct tax collections in Apr-Dec up 12 pct; indirect tax up 25 pct, says Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday announced that the direct tax collection during the first nine months of the current financial year 2016-17 grew 12.01 percent on year to Rs 5.53 lakh crore.

The Indirect tax, which includes central excise, service tax and customs, collected during April-December indicate net revenue were Rs. 6.30 lakh crore, up 25 percent on year, he said.

The Finance ministry in its statement said, "Growth rate under Corporate Income Tax (CIT) is 10.7 percent while that under Personal Income Tax (PIT) (including STT) is 21.7 percent."

However, after adjusting for refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 4.4 percent while that in PIT collections is 24.6 percent, it added.

The direct tax collected is 65.3 percent of the total budget estimates of direct taxes for financial year 2016-17.

Also, the refunds during April-December grew 30.5 percent on year to Rs 1,26,371 crore and have already been issued, the release said.

The central excise net tax collections were Rs. 2.79 lakh crore during April-December, up 43 percent on year, while service tax during grew nearly 24 percent on year to Rs. 1.83 lakh crore, he said.

Giving details of custom duty, he said that there has been a decline of 6.3 percent owing to lower gold imports.