Direct tax revenues jump 128 pc in Apr as refunds fall

Gross direct tax collections, comprising personal I-T, corporate I-T and other small levies, decline to Rs 7,935 crore in April 2007 from Rs 9,940 crore a year ago.

The government's revenues from direct taxes more than doubled to Rs 5,441 crore in April 2007 despite a decline in gross collections as refunds fell 67 per cent during the month.

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Gross direct tax collections, comprising personal income tax, corporate income tax and other small levies, declined 20 per cent to Rs 7,935 crore in April 2007 from Rs 9,940 crore a year ago, Finance Ministry sources said.

But net collections rose 128.4 per cent to Rs 5,441 crore from the year-ago level of Rs 2,832 crore as refunds fell to Rs 2,494 crore from Rs 7,558 crore a year earlier.

The sources attributed the fall in gross tax collections to a shift in the timing of demands raised. They said demands were raised till December against the earlier year pratice of March, which used to get reflected in the figures of April.

While gross collections in personal income tax rose by 4.32 per cent, it declined by 39.25 per cent in the case of corporate income tax.

Personal income tax collections stood at Rs 4,450 crore in April 2007 against Rs 4,352 crore in the same month last fiscal, while corporate income tax was Rs 3,392 crore against Rs 5,584 crore in April 2006.

Sources said corporate tax figures will rise with the first instalment of quarterly payment of advance taxes by June 15. These were only tax deducted at source figures, they said and attributed the fall in corporate tax collections to this factor.