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Direct tax collection target scaled up

P. Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: With a massive 71 per cent increase in revenue collections through direct taxes during April-May this year, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Thursday revised the budgeted mop-up target upwards by about Rs. 30,000 crore to Rs. 3,95,000 crore for fiscal 2008-09.

“We are hopeful of achieving this higher figure too. Yesterday, we have reported a robust growth of around 71 per cent [in direct tax collections],” CBDT Chairman R. S. Mathoda said here.

As per the original budget estimates for the current fiscal, the target for direct tax collections was pegged at about Rs. 3,65,000 crore, up from the revenue mop-up of around Rs. 3,14,000 crore in 2007-08. With this revision in the collection target, it marks an increase of over 25 per cent over the actual revenue garnered through direct taxes in the previous fiscal.

Moreover, since the direct tax collections in 2007-08 marked a growth of over 36 per cent as compared to a year ago, an enthused Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had asked the CBDT to substantially scale up the revenue target from the budget estimates for the current fiscal. Speaking to newspersons earlier this month after inaugurating the conference of tax commissioners, Mr. Chidambaram had said: “The estimate will no longer be Rs. 3,65,000 crore. The CBDT will meet and increase the estimate upwards… Even if you take a 25 per cent increase over last year’s collection of over Rs. 3,14,468 crore, the budget estimates must be revised upward very sharply.”

In an official statement on Wednesday, the Finance Ministry had reported a whopping 71.28 per cent increase in revenue collections totalling Rs. 22,840 crore through direct taxes alone during the first two months of the current fiscal as compared to Rs. 13,335 crore mopped up in April-May last year. In particular, while corporate tax collections were up by 68 per cent to Rs. 8,126 crore, personal income tax witnessed higher growth at 73 per cent to Rs. 14,960 crore during the two-month period.

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