Direct tax kitty soars 44% in Dec

Revival In The Economy Is Gathering Pace From Tax Collection To Truck Rentals To Recruitment, Greenshoots Have Begun To Take Roots With India Inc Revving Up To Meet Fiscal-End Targets Markets Too Are Hitting A Purple Patch

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

New Delhi: Revenue collection is looking up with the corporate direct tax mop-up registering a 44% growth year-on-year in December 2009 and 14% in April-December 2009 period. And the government is bullish on surpassing the direct tax collection target of Rs 3.7 lakh crore by at least Rs 10,000 crore. 
    Reflecting strong revival in industrial growth, December witnessed a jump in the corporate tax collection to Rs 53,293 crore as against Rs 37,002 crore in the same period in 2008-09. In the nine months to December, corporate tax collection increased to Rs 1.66 lakh crore against Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the same period in 2008. 
    Overall, the net direct tax collection during the first three quarters till December stood at Rs 2.5 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.3 lakh crore in the same period last year, a growth of 8.5%. In December, the net tax collection was Rs 66,410 crore compared to Rs 53,347 crore in the same month in 2008. The rise in tax collection reflects a turnaround in the industrial output and consumption. 
    However, the personal income tax (PIT) collection witnessed a negative growth. In December, PIT declined by 19.7% to Rs 13,117 crore as against Rs 16,345 crore in the same period last year. In the first nine months of the fiscal, the PIT, which includes securities transaction tax, fringe benefit tax and banking cash transaction tax, declined by 0.4% to Rs 83,178 crore from Rs 83,524 crore in the corresponding period last year. 
    In 2009-10, the government had revised its budget estimate by increasing the direct tax target to Rs 4 lakh crore. However, a lower growth rate (3%-4% on an average) till November made the government go back to the Budget estimate. 
    Apart from the regular assessment, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is hopeful of mopping up at least Rs 25,000 crore from scrutiny cases where additional demands are raised after the re-verification of returns. Last year, the government had collected around Rs 30,000 crore from the exercise. 
    Even the corporate advance tax collection in the third quarter registered a growth of 42.6%, the highest for the entire fiscal. The advance direct tax payments received till December 15 reflected that the economy is bouncing back. 
Among the top 10 corporate entities that have shown highest percentage growth in the payment of advance tax up to December, three are from the banking sector — Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda. The other seven are Bharti Airtel, Jindal Power, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Udyog, Indian Oil and Grasim Industries. Allahabad Bank registered the highest growth of 658% in its advance tax payment with an outgo of Rs 341 crore from April to December against Rs 45 crore in the same period last fiscal. Bharti Airtel is second on the list showing 275% growth in its April-December tax payments at Rs 856 crore, up from Rs 229 crore in the corresponding period in 2008. 
Power sector major Jindal Power, IT giant Infosys and auto leaders Maruti Udyog and Bajaj Auto have posted huge advance tax growth percentages ranging between 108% and 210%.