Tax collections rise 11.6 pc, corporate tax down

NEW DELHI, SEPT 6: Total tax collections are estimated to have gone up 11.6 per cent to Rs 50,235 crore during April-August, 1999 even as...

NEW DELHI, SEPT 6: Total tax collections are estimated to have gone up 11.6 per cent to Rs 50,235 crore during April-August, 1999 even as direct tax figures showed a decline of 6.9 per cent during the period under review due to large refunds.

The corporate tax, in particular, has showed a sharp decline of about Rs 1,400 crore during the first five months of the current financial year, officials sources said today.

Income tax collections during April-August this year, however, showed a substantial increase of 22.12 per cent from Rs 5160 in the first five months of 1998 to Rs 6301 crore during the same period of the current fiscal.

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Total tax collections (both direct and indirect) stood at Rs 45,008 crore during the first five months of the 1998-99 financial year, sources said.

In the indirect tax category, collections rose by 16.65 per cent from Rs 35382 crore in April-August, 1998 to Rs 41,274 crore in the same period of the current financial year.

While excise collections rose from Rs 18199 crore inApril-August 1998 to Rs 22019 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal, a rise of 21 per cent, customs collections showed a smaller rise of 13.11 per cent from Rs 16045 crore to Rs 18,150 crore in April-August, 1999.

The indirect tax collections during August, 1999, stood at Rs 8770 crore as against Rs 7428 crore in August 1998, a rise of 18 per cent. The excise collections for August, 1999, were pegged at Rs 4678 crore as against Rs 4035 crore August, 1998, a rise of 16 per cent.

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As for customs collections, it rose to Rs 3917 crore in August 1999 as against Rs 3222 crore in August, 1998, an increase of 21.6 per cent. Total direct tax collections during August, 1999, stood at Rs 1650 crore as against Rs 1143 crore in August 1998, the sources said.

As for income tax collections during the month, it rose by 25 per cent from Rs 936 crore in August 1998 to Rs 1168 crore during the corresponding period of 1999.

The silver lining in the direct tax collections has been a whopping 165 per centincrease in corporate tax collections during the period August 1999, when it touched Rs 444 crore as against Rs 167 crore during August 1998.

The cumulative corporate tax collections during April-August, however, showed a big decline, the sources said adding it declined by about Rs 1400 crore as compared to the same period of 1998.