E-Paper
Gross direct tax collections surge 15% to ₹14.32 lakh crore
Corporate advance tax collection saw a 18.09% year-on-year surge during this period at ₹416,083.59 crore.
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The gross direct tax collections in 2026-27 up to September 17 jumped over 15% on an annualised basis to around ₹14.32 lakh crore with net revenue after refunds increasing by approximately 13% to ₹12.12 lakh crore due to stronger receipts from all key segments, according to government data released on Friday.
The gross direct tax collection in the first six months of the current financial year (April 1-September 17 of FY27) increased 15.19% to ₹1,432,437.43 crore compared to ₹1,243,582.45 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year (FY26).
After refunds, net direct tax revenue surged by 12.96% to ₹1,212,410.71 crore in FY27 (up to September 17) compared to ₹1,073,272.17 crore in the same period last fiscal year.
Total refunds in the said period of 2026-27 were ₹220,026.72 crore as against ₹170,310.28 crore in the corresponding period of 2025-26, registering a 29.19% jump, official data showed.
Advance tax collections for 2026-27 (as on September 17) also saw a robust 16.18% growth at ₹521,940.72 crore compared to ₹449,256.41 crore collected in the same period of the previous financial year.
Corporate advance tax collection saw a 18.09% year-on-year surge during this period at ₹416,083.59 crore. Non-corporate advance tax in this period saw a 9.24% annualised increase at ₹105,856.69 crore.
“Direct tax collections continue to signal healthy underlying economic activity and the strength of the tax base. While higher refunds have moderated net tax collection growth, they also reflect improved efficiency in refund processing, ensuring timely relief and liquidity for taxpayers,” said Richa Sawhney, partner-tax, Grant Thornton Bharat.
Pointing to robust double-digit growth in gross and net collections with buoyant corporate advance tax and securities transaction tax (STT), Jayesh Sanghvi, tax partner at EY India said the “buoyancy is broad-based” and in tandem with the country’s economic growth. In FY27 (as on September 17) STT jumped to ₹40,214.36 crore, registering a 52.9% annualised jump.
Nominal gross domestic product (GDP) for Q1 FY 2026-27 grew 10.3%, and the Budget 2026-27 assumes full-year nominal growth of 10.0%. “Against that baseline, gross direct tax buoyancy runs at roughly 1.47, and net buoyancy at 1.26,” he said.
Tax buoyancy is a measure of growth in tax revenues compared to GDP growth, showing the responsiveness of tax revenues to changes in overall economic activity. A buoyancy value greater than one implies that tax revenue grows faster than GDP.
He highlighted some important of additional points. “First, refunds have grown 29.19%, nearly twice the pace of gross collections and now consume 15.4% of gross receipts against 13.7% a year ago. Faster refund processing is a taxpayer-service win, but it will compress net-collection growth in later quarters if sustained,” he said.
“Second, non-corporate advance tax grew only 9.24%, well below corporate advance tax’s 18.09%, suggesting that small-business taxpayers may still be recalibrating. Overall, this signals that India’s direct tax machinery is entering FY 2026-27 with tailwind and with room to achieve/ exceed the Budget’s cautious 8% gross tax revenue target,” he added.
