Higher advance payout raises direct tax mop-up by 30% to Rs 8.36 lakh crore

The Finance Ministry said the rise in tax collections can be seen as an indication of revival of economic activity post pandemic.

After adjusting for refunds amounting to Rs 1.35 lakh crore, net direct tax kitty grew 23 per cent to Rs 7 lakh crore.

Gross collection of direct taxes for 2022-23 stands at Rs 8,36,225 crore compared to Rs 6,42,287 crore in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 30 per cent, the ministry said in a statement.

This includes revenue from Corporate Income Tax of Rs 4.36 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) of Rs 3.98 lakh crore.

“Direct tax collections continue to grow at a robust pace, a clear indicator of the revival of economic activity post pandemic, as also the result of the stable policies of the government, focusing on simplification and streamlining of processes and plugging of tax leakage through effective use of technology,” the ministry said.

For April-September, advance tax collection grew 17 per cent to Rs 2.95 lakh crore. This includes advance tax payout by corporate taxpayers of Rs 2.29 lakh crore.

After adjusting for refunds, net direct tax collections rose 23 per cent to Rs 7,00,669 crore, compared to Rs 5,68,147 crore in the corresponding period of fiscal 2021-22.

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Refunds amounting to Rs 1,35,556 crore have been issued in 2022-23 till September 17, a 83 per cent growth over the year-ago period.

“There has been a remarkable increase in the speed of processing of income tax returns filed during current fiscal, with almost 93 per cent of the duly verified ITRs having been processed till 17.09.2022. This has resulted in faster issue of refunds with almost a 468 per cent increase in the number of refunds issued in current financial year,” the ministry said.