Direct tax collection grows 61% in four months

NEW DELHI: Direct taxes have fetched Rs 36,061 crore to the government kitty during the first four months of the current fiscal, up 61.12% from the year-ago period, driven by an 85.5% growth in corporate tax collections. The government collected Rs 19,553 crore from corporate taxes during the April-July period, against Rs 10,558 crore during the first four months of previous fiscal.

Income tax collections yielded Rs 16,528 crore during the period, which is 39.8% higher than Rs 11,823 crore collected in the corresponding period of the previous year, sources said.

Reflecting hectic activity in stock markets, securities cash transaction tax enabled the authorities to collect Rs 9,410 crore, more than three-fold over Rs 557 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The fringe benefit tax, introduced last year, yielded Rs 915 crore to the government kitty, while authorities collected Rs 158 crore from BCTT, which was also imposed last year.

The figures cannot be compared with the corresponding period of last fiscal as they had not been introduced then.The finance ministry has often said that BCTT was never supposed to be a revenue generating measure, but a step to keep tabs on black money generation.

On indirect tax front, the Government collected Rs 26,692 crore during the first four months of 2006-07, up 35 per cent over Rs 19,752 crore.Figures from other heads—excise duty and service tax— have not yet come, the sources said.