At Rs 9.45 lakh cr, net direct tax mop up exceeds estimates

The net direct tax collection for the fiscal ended March 31 stood at Rs 9.45 lakh crore, an increase of 5 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.