Economy outlook brightens, tax collection up 17 per cent

In yet another sign of the economy clawing back, direct tax collection in May rose to Rs 11,919 crore compared to the Rs 10,198 crore raised in the year-ago period when the global meltdown was still to hit India.

In yet another sign of the economy clawing back, direct tax collection in May rose to Rs 11,919 crore compared to the Rs 10,198 crore raised in the year-ago period when the global meltdown was still to hit India.

HT Image

This rise of about 16.88 per cent is also in sharp contrast to the 3.19 per cent negative growth witnessed in April.

Official data released Thursday showed net direct tax collections in the first two months this fiscal stood at Rs.24,158 crore, up 5.77 per cent from the Rs 22,840 crore raised in the corresponding period in 2008-09.

Corporate tax collection in April-May increased 5.56 per cent to Rs 8,578 crore from Rs 8,126 crore, while personal income tax including fringe benefit tax and securities transaction tax grew at 5.92 per cent to Rs 15,559 crore as against Rs 14,690 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Securities transaction tax collection, however, declined 24.75 per cent to Rs 795 crore in the period under review as against Rs 1,057 crore a year ago.

Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT), declined 5.57 per cent to Rs 103 crore as against Rs 109 crore in April-may last year.