Target for direct, indirect tax collections to be raised: FM

CHENNAI: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the targets for direct and indirect tax collections will be raised for this financial year and asked officials to intensify investigation against tax evasion.

Direct Tax collections target has been increased to four per cent and the indirect taxes to six per cent, he said addressing a review meeting of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) here.

Stressing the need for increasing tax collection, he said while the service sector had grown "enormously", the rise in service tax collection was not commensurate.

Mukherjee also pointed out the need to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to ensure a high rate of economic growth, an official press release said.

"He assured that all steps will be taken to resolve the hurdles in GST's implementation," the release said.

Meanwhile, an Income Tax department release said that Mukherjee also asked the officers to step up investigation to tackle tax evasion.

"In the present global scenario, funding of illegal activities, terror funding etc are major consequences of tax evasion and pose a serious threat," the release quoted Mukherjee as saying.

Among those who were present in the review meeting were Union Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam, Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra and Sudhir Chandra, Chairman CBDT.