Direct tax collections surge 18% to cross Rs 10-trn mark in FY18: Jaitley

Direct tax collection has grown by 18 per cent to cross Rs 10.02 trillion in the financial year ended on March 31, 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.

He said demonetisation and GST implementation have resulted in higher formalisation of the economy which is evident from additional 10 million IT returns being filed in the previous financial year.

"Direct tax collections for FY2017-18 has been Rs 10.02 trillion (18 per cent higher than previous year). The data reveals the efficiency of the tax department and rise in no. of honest taxpayers. This historical revenue receipt is a factual testimony of accountable governance under PM @narendramodi ji," Jaitley tweeted.

He said the number of income tax returns filed rose to 68.4 million during 2017-18, compared to 54.3 million filed in 2016-17. This represents a 26 per cent growth in filing of ITRs.

Of the total ITRs filed, 67.4 million returns were e-filed. Between March 30 and 31, the last day of the financial year 2017-18, 5.6 million ITRs were filed.

The government had estimated to collect Rs 9.80 trillion from direct taxes, which include Income Tax and corporate tax, in 2017-18. In the revised estimates, the government raised the target to an ambitious Rs 10.05 trillion.

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had yesterday said that the tax collections would cross the "landmark" Rs 10 trillion in 2017-18 financial year.