The government on Friday said the net direct tax collection till December 20 this fiscal amounted to Rs 7.36 lakh crore, a growth of 14% over the same period a year ago. This is 64% of the Budget estimate for direct tax collection in the current fiscal.
“The growth rate of gross direct tax collection and net direct tax collection for the current financial year 2018-19 as on 20.12.2018 is 14.6% and 14.0%, respectively,” the government said.
The number of income tax e-returns filed till December 6 stood at 6.09 crore, which is 47% higher than last year.
Responding to a question on whether demonetisation had helped in improving direct tax collection, the government said the growth of 14.6% in direct tax revenue in the year of demonetisation (financial year 2016-17), 18% in financial year 2017-18 and 14% in the current financial year is indicative of a positive impact of demonetisation on revenue growth.
The government also said the robust increase in the number of e-returns filed during FY17 to FY19 was also reflective of the fact that demonetisation has helped in increasing tax compliance through formalisation of the economy.