Finmin hopes to net Rs 30,000 cr extra as taxes

Tax collections appear to be on a roll this fiscal. Going by the 40 per cent higher tax collections up to November, the finance ministry is hoping to net a whopping Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) extra by way of direct and indirect taxes this financial year.

Of this, Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) will come from direct taxes while the remaining is expected to come from higher customs and service tax collections.

With corporate tax collections up to November touching Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion), officials said the annual collections for 2006-07 were expected to touch Rs 1,50,000 crore (Rs 1500 billion) against the Budget estimate of Rs 1,33,010 crore (Rs 1330.1 billion).

Similarly, income-tax collection during April-November crossed Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) and is expected to touch Rs 80,000 crore (Rs 800 billion) this fiscal against the Budget estimate of Rs 77,409 crore (Rs 774.09 billion).

Overall direct tax collections are likely to touch Rs 2,30,000 crore (Rs 2300 billion) in 2006-07 compared with an expected Rs 2,10,000 crore (Rs 2100 billion).

On the indirect tax collection side, the customs collections up to November have touched Rs 56,900 crore (Rs 569 billion). This is expected to increase to Rs 87,000 crore (Rs 870 billion) by the end of March against the budget estimate of Rs 77,000 crore (Rs 770 billion).

While excise collections are expected to meet the Budget estimate of Rs 1,19,000 crore (Rs 1190 billion), the service tax collection for the fiscal is expected to touch Rs 38,000 crore (Rs 380 billion) against the Budget estimate of Rs 34,500 crore (Rs 345 billion).

Overall, the indirect tax collection was expected to be higher by Rs 10,000 to Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 100-130 billion), officials said.

Of the Rs 1,00,135 crore (Rs 1001.35 billion) collected by way of direct taxes up to November, officials said the south and west zones recorded a higher growth than targeted. However, the north and east zones recorded revenue growth lower than the target growth for the fiscal.

The west zone direct tax revenue collections increased by 35 per cent to Rs 12,364 crore (Rs 123.64 billion) against a target growth rate of 29 per cent while the south zone collections increased by 36 per cent to Rs 22,210 crore (Rs 222.1 billion). The targeted growth rate is 30 per cent.

The east zone collections touched Rs 7,506 crore (Rs 75.06 billion) up to November, marking an increase of 28 per cent compared with 30 per cent required in 2006-07. The north zone tax collections touched Rs 5,343 crore (Rs 53.43 billion), which is an increase of 28 per cent compared with 29 per cent required this fiscal.