Upturn economy, yes! Govt's tax kitty swelled in Apr-July

Reflecting an upturn in economic activity, government's revenue collection showed an impressive growth in April-July period of this fiscal, with total direct and indirect tax mop-up rising to ₹ 4.3 lakh crore.

Indirect tax collections rose by 29.9% during the first four months of the current fiscal to about ₹ 2.71 lakh crore, mainly on account of 50.8% jump in excise revenues.

Direct tax revenue rose 24.01% to ₹ 1.59 lakh crore in April-July, driven mainly by higher mop-up in personal income tax due to early advance tax collections.

The indirect and direct tax collections till July account for 34.90% and 18.82% of the annual budget target, respectively.

The government hopes to collect ₹ 8.47 lakh crore from direct taxes and ₹ 7.79 lakh crore from indirect taxes, which includes customs, excise and service tax, in 2016-17 fiscal.

Personal income tax collection grew 31.47% while corporate taxes registered an increase of 11.65%, an official statement said.

After accounting for refunds, the net growth in personal income tax stood at 46.55%, while for corporate tax it was 2.84%.

Regarding indirect taxes, excise collection in the first four months of current fiscal grew 50.8% to ₹ 1.23 lakh crore. Service tax revenue increased by 25.8% to ₹ 76,679 crore.

Customs revenue collection during April-July 2016 registered 7.9% growth at ₹ 71,767 crore.