Tag: Tax collections

Hopeful of achieving 25% growth in net collections, says CBDT chief

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Nitin Gupta, Chairman of CBDT, told CNBC-TV18 that tax collections currently are up 24 percent, gross tax collections up 30 percent year-on-year and that he is hopeful of achieving 25 percent growth in net collections.

“As of now we are up 24 percent already vis-à-vis the last year in net terms after issuing refunds of around Rs 2,00,000 crore. On a gross basis also our collections are 30 percent higher than the last year. So we are very hopeful that we would be achieving around 25 percent growth in the net collections over and above the budget estimates,” Gupta said.

In a bid to ease the taxpayer’s burden, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has proposed a common income tax return form for all taxpayers. The form will be an amalgamation of all ITR forms barring Form-7.

Read Here: ITR filing: CBDT proposes one common ITR form for all taxpayers

On merging ITR forms Gupta said that the department’s endeavour has been ease of compliance with the taxpayers and it have been given a lot of emphasis upon that. “In this area, a lot of new initiatives have been taken and the common return form is one of the initiatives where we are preparing a composite form. The objective is to reduce the length of the form and make it easy for the taxpayer to fill up the data,” he said.

On TDS provisions he said the tax requirement has been enlarging the scope and the CBDT is creating an audit trail so that the data is available with the tax department and they have been utilising the data. “We have been presenting the data to the taxpayer as well. So there is a nudging with the taxpayer that the lot of information is available with the department and the taxpayer should come clean and pay the due taxes whatever is to be payable by him. So I think that is the objective of the department. Right now we have been successful in this area,” he said.

Also Read: Govt unlikely to make major rate changes in upcoming fortnightly review of windfall gains tax

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tax collections soar to record Rs 27.07 lakh crore in FY22

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s tax collections soared to a record high of Rs 27.07 lakh crore in the fiscal year ended March 31 as mop-up from income and other direct taxes as well as indirect taxes jumped, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Friday.

Gross tax collection of Rs 27.07 lakh crore during April 2021 to March 2022 compares with the budget estimate of Rs 22.17 lakh crore, he told reporters.

Direct taxes, which comprise income tax paid by individuals and corporate tax, came in at Rs 14.10 lakh crore — Rs 3.02 lakh crore higher than the budget estimate.

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Indirect taxes like excise duty stood Rs 1.88 lakh crore higher than the budget estimate. Against the budget estimate of Rs 11.02 lakh crore, indirect tax mop-up was Rs 12.90 lakh crore, he said.

While direct taxes showed a 49 percent growth, indirect tax collections were up 30 percent last fiscal, he added. The tax-to-GDP ratio jumped to 11.7 percent in FY22 from 10.3 percent in FY21. This was the highest since 1999.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Soaring fuel prices: Govt yet to decide on tax cuts as revenue loss weighs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Even as fuel prices stay above Rs 100 per litre, the government is yet to take a call on cutting fuel taxes.

Fuel at Rs 100 per litre is the number that is concerning all policymakers. They are more than aware that prices have shot through the roof. However, there is a trade-off between cutting fuel taxes and tax collection.

Also Read: Crude oil’s roller coaster ride, explained

It is understood that the debate is only about this extra tax that has been levied during the first wave of COVID-19 and whether or not the government should think about it.

Every Re 1 cut in fuel taxes will lead to a revenue loss of around Rs 13,000 crore. So, the Rs 5 excise cut will lead to the loss of somewhere around Rs 65,000-70,000 crore annually.

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It won’t come as a big surprise if some decision is finally taken by the government in the next few weeks.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Sapna Das for more details.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Net direct tax collections for FY 2021-22 rise over 74% to Rs 5.70 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The figures of direct tax collections for the financial year 2021-22, as of September 22 show that net collections are at Rs 5,70,568 crore, compared to Rs 3,27,174 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year i.e FY 2020-21, representing an increase of 74.4 percent, Ministry of Finance said in a statement today.

“The net collection (as of September 22) in FY 2021-22 has registered a growth of 27 percent over FY 2019-20 when the net collection was Rs 4,48,976 crore,” it said.

The net direct tax collection of Rs 5,70,568 crore include Corporation Tax (CIT) at Rs 3,02,975 crore (net of refund) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Security Transaction Tax(STT) at Rs 2,67,593 crore (net of refund), Ministry of Finance said.

“The gross collection of direct taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for the FY 2021-22 stands at Rs 6,45,679 crore compared to Rs 4,39,242 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, registering a growth of 47 percent over collections of FY 2020-21. The gross collection in FY 2021-22 has registered a growth of 16.75 percent over FY 2019-20 when the gross collection was Rs 5,53,063 crore,” it added.

This confirms the CNBC-TV18 newsbreak. People in the know earlier told CNBC-TV18 that as of September 22, the net direct tax mop-up would stand at over 50 percent of the full fiscal year target. Starting April and till September 22 of FY22, the net direct tax collections would be at Rs 5.70 lakh crore against a collection of Rs 3.30 lakh crore during the same period last year, sources had said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: Key factors behind surge in bond prices after Friday’s bond auction

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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No one was expecting a bond rally because this year the government was going to borrow hand over fist so bond prices have only been falling and yields rising, but things have changed in the last two weeks.

Now, bond prices are at seven-week highs. The latest trigger is the bond auction on Friday.

The demand was very good for the three bonds on offer. The surprise was that the government did not take the extra money through a greenshoe.

The government cancelled about 33,000 crores of auctions in the last two to three months because dealers were asking for too high yields. So, when the money was coming, traders were expecting that the government would opt for the greenshoe. However, that was not there. This indicated that the government also is extremely confident that tax revenues are robust and therefore they don’t have to borrow the cancelled amount.

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That is the belief with which the market is proceeding. In fact, there are some who believe that even in the second half, the government may borrow a little less than the budgeted amount and that is what is responsible for this rally in the bond markets.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Provisional net indirect tax collections grow 12% in 2020-21, compared to FY2019-20

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The provisional figures for indirect tax collections (GST and non-GST) for the financial year 2020-21 show that net revenue collections are at Rs 10.71 lakh crore as compared to 9.54 lakh crore for the financial year 2019-20, thereby registering a growth of 12.3 percent, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a statement today.

The net indirect tax collection for the financial year 2020-21 shows that 108.2 percent of the Revised Estimates (RE) of indirect taxes for the financial year 2020-21 has been achieved.

As regards customs, net tax collections stood at Rs. 1.32 lakh crore during the financial year 2020-21 as compared to Rs.1.09 lakh crore during the previous financial year, thereby registering a growth of around 21 percent, it added.

Net tax collections on account of Central Excise and Service Tax (Arrears) during the financial year 2020-21 stood at Rs 3.91 lakh crore as compared to Rs 2.45 lakh crore in the previous financial year, thereby registering a growth of more than 59 percent.

Net Tax collections on account of GST of Centre (CGST+IGST+ Compensation Cess) during Financial Year 2020-21 is Rs 5.48 lakh crore as compared to Rs 5.99 lakh crore in the previous financial year.

The revised estimates of net GST collection including CGST and Compensation Cess for FY 2020-21 was Rs 5.15 lakh crore, Thus, the actual net GST collection is 106 percent of the total targeted collection, though these are 8 percent lower than the last FYs collection, PIB said.

The GST collections were severely affected in the first half of the financial year on account of COVID19.

However, in the second half, the GST collections registered a good growth and collections exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore in each of the last six months. March saw an all-time high of GST collection at Rs 1.24 lakh crore after very good figures in the month of January and February. Several measures taken by the Central Government helped in improving compliance in GST, PIB added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Union Budget 2020: How key economic indicators have changed since Budget 2019

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present Union Budget 2020 — her second — on February 1. With less than a month left for the budget, here’s a look at how key economic numbers have changed between the last budget and the upcoming one:

Fiscal Deficit

Budget 2019: In her last budget, which was presented on July 5, 2019, after PM Modi-led NDA formed the government for the second term, FM Nirmala Sitharaman had revised the fiscal deficit target to 3.3 percent of GDP from an earlier 3.4 percent for 2019-20.

Now: Several reports and experts say that the government is likely to miss its fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent and that the actual number may be anywhere between 3.5 percent and 3.8 percent.

DBS Group Research, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, had said that it expects the fiscal deficit to remain between 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent for the financial year 2020.

Moody’s, after the budget announcement on July 5 last year, had said that there were risks of India missing the deficit target if tax revenue falls short of the projection — a case which seems quite likely now.

In fact, government officials too have acknowledged the same. A report by Business Standard in December, citing government officials, said that India is indeed likely to miss its fiscal deficit target for this financial year.

Government Expenditure

Budget 2019: The government had proposed to spend Rs 27,86,349 crore in 2019-20, 13.4 percent above the revised estimate of 2018-19.

Now: A Reuters report on Tuesday said that the government is likely to cut spending for the current financial year by as much as 2 trillion Indian rupees (Rs 2 lakh crore) as it is facing tax shortfall, which is likely to affect its fiscal deficit target.

“The government has spent about 65 percent of the total expenditure target of 27.86 trillion rupees till November but reduced the pace of spending in October and November,” the report said, citing government data, adding that a 2 trillion-rupee reduction would be about a 7 percent cut in total spending planned for the year.

Tax Collections

Budget 2019: The total indirect tax collections were estimated to be Rs 11,19,247 crore in 2019-20, of which, the government had estimated to raise Rs 6,63,343 crore from GST, out of which, Rs 5,26,000 crore was estimated to come from Central GST. The collections from taxes on firms were expected to jump by 14.2 percent in 2019-20 over the revised estimate of the previous year, and those on individuals by 7.6 percent — Rs 7,66,000 crore and Rs 5,69,000 crore, respectively.

Now: There are concerns that the government may fall short of the tax revenue. The revenue department has launched measures to boost tax collections for the next four collection months, asking senior officers to achieve targets.

Direct tax collections, as of November, crossed only Rs 5 lakh crore against the target of Rs 13 lakh crore. While the Central GST collection, as of November, stood at Rs 3.26 lakh crore, against the govt’s target of Rs 5,26,000 crore.

The collections of GST for the month of November, collected in December, crossed Rs 1.03 lakh crore, sources told CNBC-TV18 earlier.

The centre, in December, set an ambitious Rs 1.1 lakh crore monthly GST target for the remaining four months of the current fiscal and asked taxmen to step up efforts to achieve the goal.

Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, in a meeting held with top tax officials, had also said that of the remaining four months, Rs 1.25 lakh crore collections have to be achieved in at least one month.

Government officials, on the condition of anonymity, told CNBC-TV18 that the collections will be better in December. However, some reports claim the government may miss the target.

GDP Growth

Budget 2019: Sitharaman, in Budget 2019, had pegged India’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate at 12 percent for 2019-20.

Now: A survey conducted by CNBC-TV18, ahead of the first advance estimates of the FY20 GDP, hinted at real GDP at 5 percent while nominal GDP at 7.5 percent.

The government later estimated India’s GDP growth during fiscal 2019-20 at 5 percent as compared to 6.8 percent in the year-ago period.

Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has lowered India’s gross domestic product growth projection for the fiscal year 2019-20 to 4.9 percent from 5.8 percent, saying that weak household consumption will curb economic growth and weigh on the credit quality.

India’s GDP growth declined for the third straight quarter to an over six-year low of 4.5 percent for the second-quarter ended September 30, down from 5 percent recorded in the Q1FY20.

Surcharge

Budget 2019: In the 2019-20 budget, the government decided to increase surcharge from 15 percent to 25 percent on taxable income between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore, and from 15 percent to 37 percent for income above Rs 5 crore.

Now: Sitharaman later announced the rollback of the controversial tax surcharge on the Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPIs). The decision taken in the budget to levy enhanced surcharge had spooked the stock markets.

Corporate Tax Cut

India cut corporate tax rates in September in a surprise move designed to woo manufacturers, revive private investment and lift growth from a six-year low. The cut in the headline corporate tax rate to 22 percent from 30 percent was widely cheered by corporates as well as the stock market.

(With agency inputs)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Weak tax collections force government to cap expenditure in last quarter, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government has decided to cut its expenditure for the last quarter of the current fiscal due to the weak tax collections, reported The Hindu BusinessLine.

According to the report, which cites an office memorandum by the Budget Division of the Economic Affairs Department under the Finance Ministry, the government has decided to cap the expenditure at 25 percent of the Budget Estimate, down from 33 percent, during the last quarter of FY20.

Further, March expenditure has been cut to 10 percent against the current 15 percent, said the report. The revised limit for January and February will be 15 percent against the Budget Estimate of 18 percent, it added.

The memorandum also lists guidelines for incurring expenditure for the remaining period of current fiscal including obtaining the approval of Parliament for any additional expenditure, the report mentioned.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow