Direct taxes at Rs 6.89 lakh crore this fiscal

The collections till January 15, 2018 represent over 70 per cent of the Rs 9.8 lakh crore revenue target from direct taxes, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement. 

“The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to January 15, 2018, show that net collections are at Rs 6.89 lakh crore which is 18.7 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period last year,” it said. Gross collections (before adjusting for refunds) have increased by 13.5 per cent to Rs 8.11 lakh crore during April, 2017 to January 15, 2018. 

Refunds amounting to Rs 1.22 lakh crore have been issued during this period. Stating that there has been “consistent and significant” improvement in the position of direct tax collections during the current fiscal, the CBDT said the growth rate of total gross collections has improved from 10 per cent in Q1, to 10.3 per cent in Q2, to 12.6 per cent in Q3 and to 13.5 per cent as on January 15, 2018. 

Similarly, the growth rate of total net direct tax collections has climbed up from 14.8 per cent in Q1, to 15.8 per cent in Q2, to 18.2 per cent in Q3 and to 18.7 per cent as on January 15, 2018. 

The growth in corporate tax collections has risen from 4.8 per cent in first quarter of current fiscal to 10.1 per cent in Q3 and 11.4 per cent as on January 15, 2018. Similarly, the growth rate of net corporate tax collections increased from 10.8 per cent in Q2 to 17.4 per cent in Q3 and to 18.2 per cent as on January 15, 2018. 

India is expected to become a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next eight-nine years with the manufacturing sector alone contributing 20 per cent towards that, Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday.

“We are preparing a detailed plan towards achieving that. Experts are busy preparing the roadmap including all the sectors where manufacturing can be promoted. If manufacturing is digitised, it will create a huge opportunity for technology firms,” Prabhu said. Speaking on the first day of the India Digital Summit organised by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) here, the minister said innovation cannot be confined to geographical borders. “In order to reach the $5 trillion economy, manufacturing will contribute $1 trillion and services will contribute $3 trillion,” the minister told the gathering.