Direct tax kitty swells 30% in a sign of recovery

New Delhi: Gross direct tax revenues in India rose 30% year-on-year to over ₹8.36 lakh crore till September 17 of the current financial year, with significant jumps in corporate and personal tax collections signifying robust economic recovery, improved compliance and better tax administration, the Union finance ministry said on Sunday.

“Direct tax collections continue to grow at a robust pace, a clear indicator of the revival of economic activity post-pandemic, as also the result of the stable policies of the government, focusing on simplification and streamlining of processes and plugging of tax leakage through effective use of technology,” it said in a statement.

The jump in gross direct tax receipts was marginally lower than the 35.46% annualised revenue growth at ₹6.48 lakh crore on September 8 of 2022-23, HT previously reported.

The direct tax collection data for 2022-23 till September 17 shows that net collections, after refunds, jumped 23% at ₹700,669 crore, compared to ₹568,147 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, the ministry said.

Net collections include corporation income tax (CIT) at ₹368,484 crore and personal income tax (PIT), inclusive of securities transaction tax (STT) at ₹330,490 crore. On September 8, net direct tax collection was ₹5.29 lakh crore, which was 30.17% higher than net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

The gross collections of ₹836,225 crore includes CIT at ₹436,020 crore and PIT, including STT, at ₹398,440 crore, the statement said. “Minor head wise collection comprises Advance Tax of ₹295,308 crore; Tax Deducted at Source of ₹434,740 crore; Self-Assessment Tax of ₹77,164 crore; Regular Assessment Tax of ₹20,080 crore; and Tax under other minor heads of ₹8,933 crore,” it added.

The cumulative advance tax collections for the first and second quarter of 2022-23 stood at ₹295,308 crore on September 17, against advance tax collections of ₹252,077 crore for the corresponding period of the immediately preceding 2021-22, showing a growth of 17%, the statement said. The advance tax collection of ₹295,308 crore comprises CIT at ₹229,132 crore and PIT at ₹66,176 crore, it added.

“There has been a remarkable increase in the speed of processing of income tax returns filed during the current fiscal, with almost 93% of the duly verified ITRs (income-tax returns) having been processed till 17.09.2022. This has resulted in faster issue of refunds with almost a 468% increase in the number of refunds issued in the current financial year,” it said.

Refunds amounting to ₹135,556 crore have been issued in 2022-23 till September 17 as against refunds of ₹74,140 crore issued during the corresponding period in the preceding financial year, showing a growth of over 83%.

CA Tarun Kumar, Direct tax head at Coherent Advisors, said: “Advance tax and TDS collections show robust economic recovery. Excellence in compliance and tax administration is undoubtedly exhibited in ITR processing and quick refunds. But, certain figures such as self-assessment tax this year up to September 17 cannot be comparable with the last year’s data as the deadline to file personal ITR this year was July 31, while in the previous year, that deadline was extended up to December 31.”