As per a message recently tweeted by the Ministry of Finance, the net direct tax (income tax, etc) amount collected for the financial year 2017-18 is over Rs 10.03 lakh crore, with a year on year growth of 18%, which is the highest in the past 7 years. The official figures for the next revenue collections from direct taxes for the FY 2017-18 were released by the Ministry on May 23.
The direct tax collections of the financial year are reportedly higher than the set revenue target of 9.8 lakh crores.
The tweet shared by the Finance Ministry says, “During the last Financial Year 2017-18, Net Direct Tax collections have crossed Rs.10.03 lakh crore mark which is 18% higher than the collections during the FY 2016-17”
The data released by the Ministry confirms that the direct tax collections are 18% higher than the same period last year. The growth is being attributed as an impact of the demonetisation and GST, which were implemented in recent years.
According to the Ministry, demonisation particularly has made a positive impact on the ta compliance rate in the country.
The provisional direct tax collection figures released by Finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia soon after the financial year 2017-18 ended show that the estimated revenue generated from Direct Tax collections stands at 9.95 lakh crore which was 17.1 percent higher than the collections made during the FY 2016-17. However, the exact figures which were released on 23rd May are even bigger than the estimates.
The MoF has noted that the continuous growth in direct tax collections in the periods following demonetisation and GST show a significant positive impact of these monetary and tax policies of the Indian government. The Finance Ministry has also said that the revenue collections from self-assessment tax and Advanced Tax have also seen an exceptional growth in the FY 2017-18. Whereas the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Advance Tax revenue has increased by 23.4%, the collections of PIT Self Assessment Tax has increased by 29.8 as compared to the last financial year.
The Ministry positively believes that the growth in direct tax revenues is an impact of the measures and monetary policies implemented by the income tax department. The Ministry also appreciated the role of demonetization in the growth of voluntary tax payments by individuals and other non-business taxpayers of the country.