Direct tax collection surges 18% to ~10 trn in FY18: FM

Direct tax collection has grown by 18 per cent to cross ~10.02 trillion in the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.

He said demonetisation and the goods and services tax implementation have resulted into higher formalisation of the economy, which is evident from the additional 10 million income-tax returns (ITRs) being filed in the previous fiscal year.

“Direct tax collections for FY2017-18 have been ~10.02 trillion (18 per cent higher than the previous year). The data reveal the efficiency of the tax department and the rise in the number of honest taxpayers. This historical revenue receipt is a factual testimony of accountable governance under PM @narendramodi,” Jaitley tweeted. He said the number of ITRs filed rose to 68.4 million during 2017-18, compared to 54.3 million filed in 2016-17. This represents a 26 per cent growth in the filing of ITRs.

Of the total ITRs filed, 67.4 million returns were e-filed. Between March 30 and 31, the last day of fiscal year 2017-18, 5.6 million ITRs were filed.

The government had estimated to collect ~9.80 trillion from direct taxes, which include I-T and corporate tax, in 2017-18. In the Revised Estimates, the government had raised the target to an ambitious ~10.05 trillion.

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had on Monday said that the tax collections would cross the “landmark” ~10 trillion in 2017-18 fiscal year.