Indirect tax collections grew at 9% in August this year to Rs 40,644 crore from a year ago, indicating a promising growth trend in central excise and customs duties after their muted performance in the initial months of the fiscal.

Customs duty collections grew at 9.9% in August after a paltry growth of 0.2% in July, while excise duty receipts retained in August the robust growth of the previous month at 8%. Service tax receipts, however, moderated from the double digit growth in the initial months of the fiscal to 9% in August.

The tax department collected Rs 15,902 crore of customs duty, Rs 13,782 crore of excise duty and Rs 10,960 crore of service tax in August. The gaining momentum in excise and customs duty receipts indicate the Rs 6.2 lakh crore indirect tax revenue target for the full fiscal appear less daunting.

Relying on a recovery seen in excise duty receipts, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently said the revenue target for indirect taxes for the fiscal was very much achievable.

In the April-August period, the department collected Rs 1.94 lakh crore from the three classes of taxes which accounted for 31% of the full year target.
Due to the poor collections in the initial months of the year, customs and excise collections growth in the April-August period still remained muted at Rs 71,207 crore and Rs 61,415 crore, showing a 0.3% and 0.5% growth respectively. Service tax collection in the period showed a 15% growth at Rs 61,870 crore.