Advance tax collections from the corporate sector, other firms and individuals in the current fiscal stood at Rs 10.45 lakh crore as on Sunday, up 14.6% on year. In the corresponding period of last fiscal, these collections — a proxy of corporate profitability and the state of the economy — stood at Rs 9.11 lakh crore.
The last instalment of the advance tax payment was due on March 15, 2025, for FY25.
Significantly, advance tax collections growth in Q4 (as on March 16) moderated to about 2.4% on year from 16.8% in Q3. In Q1 and Q2, the growth was 27% and 20.6%, respectively.
The Centre’s direct tax collections net of refunds have still risen 13.1% year-on-year so far in FY25 to Rs 21.3 lakh crore, data released by the finance ministry on Monday showed. The collections till March 16 account for 95% of the revised estimates (RE) for FY25.
Advance tax collections under the corporate tax (CIT) category rose by 12.5% to Rs 7.57 lakh crore so far in the current financial year, while non-corporates, mainly personal income tax (PIT), witnessed a growth rate of 20.5% to `2.87 lakh crore.
The CIT mop-up after refunds between April 1-March 16 rose 7.1% on year, compared with 7.6% growth pegged in the revised estimates (RE). CIT mop-up, too, grew 17.3%, lower than 20.3% pegged in RE. Collections from securities transaction tax (STT), however, surged nearly 56% to Rs 53,095 crore so far this fiscal.
Meanwhile, refunds worth more than Rs 4.60 lakh crore were issued during the period against Rs 3.47 lakh crore in the year-ago period. Gross direct tax mop-up till March 16 grew 16.2% to Rs 25.87 lakh crore.
In the RE for the current fiscal, the government has pegged income tax collections at Rs 12.57 lakh crore, up from the budget estimate (BE) of Rs 11.87 lakh crore. The collection from STT is pegged at Rs 55,000 crore in this fiscal in RE, higher than BE of `37,000 crore.
The corporate tax collection target , however, has been revised lower at Rs 9.80 lakh crore, down from the budget target of `10.20 lakh crore. In total, the RE pegs direct tax collections at Rs 22.37 lakh crore, higher from Rs 22.07 lakh crore in BE.
Rohinton Sidhwa, partner, Deloitte India, said: “The revised collection continues to show a healthy uptick in personal and STT. The total collections show an increasing reliance and growth in personal taxes as opposed to corporate income tax.”
Hitesh Sawhney, partner, Price Waterhouse & Co, said: “The impressive direct tax collections by March 2025 are a testament to the government’s effective fiscal strategies, including Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme 2.0, extended filing periods for updated returns etc, which have significantly boosted compliance and taxpayer satisfaction.”