H1 direct tax collection up mere 7% on high refunds

The lower growth in tax mop was, according to experts, due to high refunds and low advance tax collections in the second quarter.

While, indirect tax collections registered a growth of 20.8 per cent during the first six months period, the latest figure of September show a mere rise of 1.2 per cent rise on account of a decline of almost 11 per cent in customs duty collection.

Experts say the trend clearly indicates a moderation in economic activities in the country.

“Even though the advance tax was more in the first quarter, there has been some moderation in the expectations. The corporates are not as bullish as they were in Q1 as is apparent from the direct tax numbers. The other thing is that lot of tax collection is coming from tax deducted at source (TDS). TDS collection continues to be high. If the situation continues then we are going to see net collection down next year, too, due to high tax refunds,” Rahul Garg, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said. Advance tax collection for the top 100 companies was up 14 per cent during the first quarter while it was up just 9.9 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal.

Gross direct tax collection, however, rose by

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