Net direct tax collections from April to 20 December were up 13.7 per cent at Rs.4.13 lakh crore, according to an official release. Of which, corporate tax collections were Rs.2.61 lakh crore or 10.2 per cent higher than in the same period last year. Personal income tax collections, at Rs.1.48 lakh crore, have shown better growth of 20.5 per cent.
The government had fixed direct tax collection target of over Rs.6.68 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2013-14, envisaging a growth of 19 per cent over the collections in 2012-13. The slower-than-target growth will make Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s task of keeping the fiscal deficit, or the excess of the government’s spending over its revenues, within the target of 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) tougher. Mr. Chidambaram has said that the government will not allow the fiscal deficit target to be breached.
