2017-18 direct tax collection crosses target of Rs 9.95 lakh crore

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Monday said the direct tax mop-up has exceeded the target at Rs 9.95 lakh crore for 2017-18 while GST revenue collections for the month of March stand at around Rs 90,000 crore.

Direct tax collections at Rs 9.95 lakh crore during 2017-18 has exceeded the budgetary target of Rs 9.8 lakh crore with a record 6.84 crore income tax returns being filed, said Adhia. This is, however, 99% of the revised estimates of Rs 10.05 lakh crore.  

There is a rise of 26% in the filing of tax returns during the fiscal year ended March 2018, said Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman Sushil Chandra said. 

There has been a sustained increase in the number of I-T returns in the last four financial years. Net collections from corporate tax went up 17.1% while from personal income tax rose 18.9%.

On GST, the finance secretary said, “GST collection for February collected in March stood at Rs 89,264 crore which shows an upswing in revenue collection trends.” It will further go up with the roll-out of e-way bill, he said.