Net direct tax mop up beats revised estimates

New Delhi: The net direct tax collection for the fiscal ended March 31, 2021, stood at Rs 9.45 lakh crore, an increase of five per cent over the revised estimates in the Union Budget.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody on Friday said the income tax department has exceeded the revised estimates despite issuing substantial refunds in the 2020-21 fiscal. During the fiscal, the net corporate tax collection stood at Rs 4.57 lakh crore, while net personal income tax was Rs 4.71 lakh crore. Another Rs 16,927 crore came from securities transaction tax (STT). The direct tax collection target set in the revised estimates (RE) for 2020-21 was Rs 9.05 lakh crore. The collection was 5 per cent higher than the RE, but was 10 per cent lower than the mop up in 2019-20. A lot of measures have been taken to ease compliance burden and provide better taxpayer services, Mody said, adding that this got reflected in the tax collection for last fiscal. He hoped that same spirit in tax collection would continue in the current financial year.

The net direct tax collections include corporation tax (CIT) at Rs 4.57 lakh crore and personal income-tax (PIT), including security transaction tax (STT) at Rs 4.88 lakh crore. "The net direct tax collections represent 104.46 per cent of the Revised Estimates of Rs 9.05 lakh crore of direct taxes for the FY 2020-21," said a Finance Ministry statement.

The gross collection of direct taxes, before adjusting for refunds, for the FY21 stands at Rs 12.06 lakh crore, including corporation tax of Rs 6.31 lakh crore and personal income tax (including STT) of Rs 5.75 lakh crore.