Direct tax collections poised to surpass budget target for 2024-25

The Income Tax Department expects to surpass the direct tax collection target of Rs 22.07 lakh crore fixed in the Union Budget for the current financial year, according to Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Ravi Agarwal.

Agarwal told journalists collections from corporate and non-corporate taxes have risen and the Income Tax Department believes that it will cross the budget target for the second year in a row. This reflects the strong fiscal position of the country driven by robust economic growth.

India's net direct tax collections, comprising corporate tax and personal income tax, shot up by a robust 15.4 per cent to Rs 12.1 lakh crore, from April 1 to November 10 during the current financial year, according to the latest figures released by the CBDT.

On a gross basis, direct taxes surged by over 21 per cent to Rs 15 lakh crore on a gross basis during the period. The government issued tax refunds of Rs 2.9 lakh crore which is a 53 per cent increase over the same period last year.

The government's target to collect Rs 22.07 lakh crore during the current financial year comprises Rs 10.20 lakh crore from corporate tax and Rs 11.87 lakh from personal income tax, non-corporate tax and other taxes.

The net direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24 had also clocked a double-digit growth to exceed the Union Budget Estimates (BE) by Rs 1.35 lakh crore or 7.4 per cent reflecting the strong fiscal position of the country driven by robust economic growth.

The net direct tax collections, comprising corporate tax and personal income tax shot up to Rs 19.58 lakh crore in 2023-24, compared to Rs 16.64 lakh crore in the preceding financial year, representing a double-digit increase of 17.7 per cent.

The target for direct collections was fixed at Rs 18.23 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2023-24 and later increased to Rs 19.45 lakh crore in the Revised Estimates (RE). The provisional Direct Tax collections (net of the refunds) have exceeded the BE by 7.40 per cent and RE by 0.67 per cent, CBDT said.