Gross direct tax collection grows 16.7% to Rs 5.47 lakh cr in Apr-Sep: Finance ministry

New Delhi: Gross direct tax collection in the first six months of the financial year grew 16.7 percent to Rs 5.47 lakh crore, Finance Ministry said on Thursday. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.03 lakh crore have been issued during April 2018 to September 2018, which is 30.4 percent higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year. “The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to September 2018 show that gross collections are at Rs 5.47 lakh crore which is 16.7 percent higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year,” the ministry said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_4347785” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Income Tax Department. Reuters.[/caption] Net collections (after adjusting for refunds) have increased by 14 percent to Rs 4.44 lakh crore during April, 2018 to September, 2018. The net direct tax collections represent 38.6 percent of the total budget estimates of direct taxes at Rs. 11.50 lakh crore for current fiscal. Gross corporate income tax (CIT) and personal income tax (PIT) collection grew 19.5 percent and 19.1 percent. After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 18.7 percent and that in PIT collections is 14.9 percent, the ministry said. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has collected Rs 2.10 lakh crore as advance tax, which is 18.7 percent higher than the advance tax collections during the corresponding period of last year. The growth rate of corporate advance tax is 16.4 percent and that of PIT advance tax is 30.3 percent, the ministry added. The ministry further said that gross collections of the corresponding period of last fiscal (2017-18) also included extraordinary collections under last instalment of the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016, amounting to Rs 10,254 crore, which does not form part of the current year’s collection.