India's direct tax collections up 71 percent

Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 19:30 IST
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New Delhi: India's direct tax collections continued to grow at a robust pace to log a 71.28 percent rise in the first two months of this fiscal at 228.4 billion ($5.7 million), against 133.35 billion in the like two months of the previous fiscal. The growth in personal income tax was the highest with 73.05 percent at 146.9 billion, against 84.89 billion, while the corporate tax mop-up was higher by 68 percent at 81.26 billion against 48.35 billion. "Direct tax collections have been witnessing a high growth due to better tax compliance by the taxpayers and an improved tax administration," a statement issued by the finance ministry said Wednesday. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said last week that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) would meet soon to revise upward the official estimate on direct taxes for this fiscal, set at 3,650 billion. "For 2007-08, direct tax collection was 3,144.68 billion. This represents an increase of 36.62 percent over the previous fiscal, and 117.56 percent of the original budget estimates," he said. "In four years, this has been tripled - that is from 1,050.88 billion to 3,144.68 billion. This is a remarkable achievement and I compliment the department for this extraordinary achievement,” he added. "The cost of collection has come down to 0.54 percent. For every 100 collected, the department spends only 54 paise. Now, this is the lowest in any jurisdiction in the world."
Source: IANS