The direct tax collection has jumped by over 21% to `1.80 lakh crore till July 15 compared to the same period last fiscal, the finance ministry said in Parliament on Tuesday.

The direct tax collection has jumped by over 21% to Rs 1.80 lakh crore till July 15 compared to the same period last fiscal, the finance ministry said in Parliament on Tuesday. The ministry added that the tax collection figures belied the fears of slowdown in economic activities. “The current growth rate is higher than the target rate of 15.32 required to achieve the budget estimate,” MoS for finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said.

The government aims to collect Rs 9.8 lakh crore through direct taxes in the current fiscal. Separately, replying in another question, the ministry said that the number of income tax payers has increased after demonetization. During the period of November 9 to December 30 last year, 1.96 crore returns were filed, which is over 20% more than the returns filed in the corresponding period a year ago. In FY15, 1.23 crore returns were filed during corresponding this period. In another answer, the minister said over 11 lakh PAN had been deleted till July 27, on account of duplicity.