Rs 6-trn direct tax collection rescues govt in fiscally difficult year

The fiscal deficit target faces pressure due to less growth in the gross domestic product than estimated in the Budget.

Amid fiscal worries, the government has got some relief on the direct taxes front. The mop-up rose 18.2 per cent till December. The target for this financial year is 15.7 per cent, according to Budget Estimates. 

The direct tax collections rose to Rs 6.56 trillion till December. This represents 67 per cent of the Budget Estimates of Rs 9.8 trillion.   

This would give some leeway to the government which faces uphill task to rein in its fiscal deficit at 3.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) due to subdued goods and services tax (GST), transfer  of surplus