Net direct tax collections up 17.63%, exceed revised estimates target

At a gross level, the share of personal income tax and STT to the tax kitty has touched 48.9% in 2022-23 compared to around 47.4% in 2021-22

India’s net direct tax collections have risen 17.63% in 2022-23 to touch ₹16.61 lakh crore, as per provisional data released by the Finance Ministry on April 3, exceeding the revised estimates target for the year by 0.7%.

The contribution of corporate tax collections in the gross direct tax kitty was ₹10.04 lakh crore, just a tad higher than the ₹9.61 lakh crore paid by taxpayers as personal Income Tax and Securities Transaction Tax (STT).

At a gross level, the share of personal income tax and STT to the tax kitty has touched 48.9% in 2022-23 compared to around 47.4% in 2021-22, while corporate tax accounted for just 51.1% in the year gone by as opposed to 52.6% in 2021-22.

Moreover, the growth in corporate tax collections was also lower than revenues collected from personal income taxpayers, combined with STT inflows. The gross corporate tax kitty had risen 16.9% in the year, while personal income tax and STT yielded a growth of 24.23%.

The Ministry said gross tax collections grew 20.33% to ₹19.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, compared to ₹16.36 lakh crore in the previous financial year. Tax refunds jumped at a sharper 37.4% year-on-year to a little over ₹3.07 lakh crore from ₹2,23,658 crore in 2021-22.

Data shared by the Ministry on gross corporate and personal tax collections along with STT, however, put 2021-22 collections from these taxes at ₹16.32 lakh crore and the 2022-23 kitty at about ₹19.65 lakh crore, signalling a higher 20.38% growth.

When contacted for a clarification, a spokesperson said: “These are provisional figures only and other taxes will also need to be factored in.”