By IANS,
New Delhi : The economic slowdown doesn’t seem to have had a major impact on direct tax collection in the country if the figures released by the finance ministry Thursday are anything to go by.
Net direct tax collections for the first seven months of this fiscal stood at Rs.1,669 billion, as compared to Rs.1,288 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal – reflecting a growth of 29.5 percent.
In the same period, corporate tax collection, including fringe benefit tax (FBT), securities transaction tax (STT) and banking cash transactions tax (BCTT) reported a growth of 33.29 percent, grossing Rs.1,051 billion, up from Rs.787 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal.
“The momentum of growth in direct taxes could be maintained, despite present global financial crises, recession and its resultant impact on the Indian economy, mainly on account of a shift in the tax collection strategy of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT),” the ministry said in a statement.
Corporate TDS (tax deducted at source) grew 48.2 percent to Rs.360 billion.
“Despite lower advance tax payments by certain sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, cement, automobile, power, textiles and downstream oil companies, advance taxes recorded positive growth in mining, mineral, metal, engineering, Indian banking, telecom, IT, pharma, and consumer goods sectors,” the finance ministry added.