Direct tax collections expected to breach Rs 12.50 lakh cr target: CBDT chairman

Direct tax collections are expected to breach the revised target of Rs 12.50 lakh crore and set an all-time high and "historic" record by the end of this financial year in March, CBDT Chairman J B Mohapatra has said.

Multiple reasons like "easing" of tax compliance processes for taxpayers and enhanced ability of the taxman in data processing were cited by him for mopping up these high-volume of collections under two major heads -- corporate tax and personal income tax.

"As we speak (February 1), the direct tax collection numbers stand at Rs 10.38 lakh crore so it is only 70,000 crore less from the BE (budget estimate) numbers of Rs 11.08 lakh crore. This number, at this point in time, is better than the last year's total collections," Mohapatra told PTI in a post-Budget interview.

He also said that "the department never crossed Rs 11.18 lakh crore in its history".

"This year we are going to breach Rs 12 lakh crore...our target is Rs 12.50 lakh crore (revised estimates) and we have good confidence of achieving the target and probably exceeding it," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chief said.

With two months still to go for the March 31 fiscal end, Mohapatra said the target looked well within reach.

Out of the total direct tax collection target of Rs 12.50 lakh crore for the 2021-22 fiscal given by the government to the Income Tax (I-T) department, Rs 6.35 lakh crore is expected to come from the corporate tax category, while Rs 6.15 lakh crore is expected from personal income tax collections.

The CBDT head said the tax department was in "good space" this time due to a variety of measures undertaken in the direct taxes collection system over the last few years, both for the taxpayer and the tax authority.

"We have not been in this space for a long, long time. This is because we have done things to ease the tax compliance (for taxpayers) and we have confidence in the data processing abilities of the Income-tax department," he said.

Also, the consolidation and formalisation of businesses, the inter-play of resource sharing among various agencies like the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), market regulator Sebi and other agencies are "helping us build the repository of data so we are leveraging on each others intelligence", Mohapatra said.

The taxman also gets a volume of taxpayer data under multiple categories electronically and hence, they do not have to look at tax evaders individually.

"Also, we have brought in processes for voluntary compliance system for the taxpayers," Mohapatra said.

The head of the policy-making body for the tax department also gave out comparative figures of direct tax collections over the last few years.

In 2018-19, Mohapatra informed, the total direct tax collection was Rs 11.18 lakh crore, in 2019-20, it was Rs 10.28 lakh crore and in 2020-21, it was at Rs 9.24 lakh crore for the whole year.

The gross collections as of now (February 1) is Rs 11.98 lakh crore which is more by 42 per cent of the 2020-21 year-on-year, it is more than 32 per cent of 2019-20 and it is more than 31 per cent of 2018-19, Mohapatra said.

In the net numbers for Rs 10.38 lakh crore, it is more by 56.9 per cent of 2020-21, 41 per cent of 2019-20, 33.8 per cent of 2018-19, he said.

Similarly, Mohapatra said, advance tax numbers total (as on February 1) is Rs 4.71 lakh crore and it is more by 51 per cent of 2020-21, by 43 per cent of 2019-20 and by 28 per cent of 2018-19.

In tax deducted at source (TDS), the CBDT chief said, "We are at Rs 5.57 lakh crore as we speak (February 1) and it is 38.6 per cent more of 2020-21, 38.9 per cent up from 2019-20 and 50.1 per cent up from 2018-19.