Indirect tax collection up 34% in April-November

Indirect tax collection of the government jumped 34.3 per cent to Rs4,38,291 crore during the first eight months of current financial year, reflecting improvement in industrial activity. The government had collected Rs3,26,273 crore from indirect taxes during April-November period of the previous fiscal.

The collection so far is 67.8 per cent of budget estimates for 2015-16, according to a government release.

As per the budget estimate for 2015-16, the government's indirect tax collection, including  from central excise, customs and service tax, in the fiscal would reach Rs 6,46,000 crore.
 
During the eight-month period, excise collection surged by 67.1 per cent to Rs1,70,693 crore from Rs1,02,139 crore in April-November period of last year, a finance ministry statement said.

These collections are partly due to additional measures such as excise increases on diesel and petrol, higher clean energy cess, withdrawal of exemptions for motor vehicles, capital goods and consumer durables and an increase in service tax rate to 14 per cent from the earlier 12.36 per cent.

At the same time, customs collection rose by 14.7 per cent to Rs 1,39,923 crore compared with Rs1,22,016 crore in the same period a year ago, it said.

Service tax collection increased by 25 per cent to Rs 1,27,675 crore during the period as against Rs 1,02,118 crore.

During November, excise collection jumped by a whopping 58.3 per cent to Rs23,033 crore in November 2015, from Rs14,551 crore in the same month last fiscal.

However, customs collection rose marginally by 1.7 per cent to Rs17,475 crore during the month under review compared with Rs17,185 crore in November 2014, it said.

Service tax collection increased by 16.1 per cent to Rs14,789 crore as against Rs12,739 crore in the same month a year ago.