Net direct tax receipts for the current fiscal had crossed ₹5.7 lakh crore by September 22, rising 74% from a year earlier, and 27% over the pre-COVID levels of 2019-20, the finance ministry said on Friday.
The direct tax collections, net of refunds, include Corporation Tax (CIT) of ₹3,02,975 crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including the Security Transaction Tax (STT) of ₹2,67,593 crore. The gross collections had grown almost 17% over the same period of 2019-20.
“Despite extremely challenging initial months of the fiscal year 2021-22, the Advance Tax collection in the second quarter of 2021-22 is ₹1,72,071 crore which shows a growth of 51.5% over the corresponding period in 2020-21,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that refunds of ₹75,111 crore had been issued so far.
ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said the 17% rise in gross tax collections relative to the pre-COVID period, was an ‘enthusing signal of the waning impact’ of the pandemic and expected the upturn to sustain in the second half as well, even though the pace of growth may be lower as the base normalises.
“The sharp jump in direct tax collections has benefitted from the formalisation of the Indian economy, which was already underway, but has been accelerated by the pandemic,” she said.
