« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Income Tax Refund Delayed for AY 2026-27? 5 Common Reasons Your Refund May Be Stuck and How to Fix It  ITR Filing 2026: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Asks Tax Officials to Let Honest Taxpayers Correct Genuine Mistakes  Will Your FCNR Deposit Stay Tax-Free After Returning to India? Tax Rules Explained for NRIs  ITR Filing 2026: Section 143(1) Tax Demand Explained Reasons, Solutions, and How to Avoid Penalties & Disputes  ITR Filing 2026: Over 3 Crore Income Tax Returns Filed for AY 2026 27 Income Tax Department Urges Taxpayers to Avoid Last-Minute Rush  ITR Filing 2026: CBDT Upgrades Income Tax Portal Ahead of July 31 Deadline Key Changes Every Taxpayer Should Know  Sold house for ₹1.10 crore, tax computed on ₹1.96 crore? ITAT explains when Section 54 relief is still available  ITR 2026: How Taxpayers Earning 25 Lakh to 1 Crore Can Save Up to 1.5 Lakh Under the New Tax Regime  Old vs New Tax Regime 2026: Which Saves More Tax If You Earn 13 Lakh?   Presumptive Taxation in 2026 Rebate Losses & Deductions Practical Impact of the Income Tax Act 2025  Income Tax Penalties Explained (2026): What Happens If You Under-Report Income or Miss Your ITR Filing «  Govt sees 50% rise in FBT mop-up in 2006-07... Do you flash multiple PAN cards?... » I-T weighs steps to up excise collection October, 05th 2006 Encouraged by the growth shown by customs and service tax collections, the revenue department is looking at ways to raise excise duty mop-up. Excise is the only indirect tax which has shown marginal growth as compared with other indirect taxes. This is mainly because of the large number of exemptions given by the government. There is definitely a case for a closer look, revenue secretary KM Chandrashekhar said. Pointing that while the administration of income tax and customs had undergone an overhaul, he said now it was the turn of excise to be focused on. He said the Central Board of Excise and Customs was looking at the audit procedures and how they can be worked on to prevent any evasion and ensure proper reporting of taxes. The government has brought in new measures like annual information return to track evasion in income tax. It is also examining a new income tax act which has been prepared by an expert group in the ministry. In customs, electronic data interchange has been brought in to bring in transparency in its functioning. The government had collected Rs 33,074 crore in excise duty up to July 06, against Rs 30,074 crore in the previous year, witnessing a growth of 8.8%. This may look decent when compared with the 6.5% growth target set in the Budget, which has estimated a total collections for 06-07 at Rs 1,17,967 crore. But, it is way below the growth rates recorded in collections of other indirect taxes like customs and service tax at 33.5% and 63.5%, respectively. It may be noted that excise forms the largest chunk in the governments tax kitty. Experts say the slide in collections is also because of the fact that duty rates have been coming down. In fact, in 05-06 there was a shortfall of 8.3% between Budget estimates and the actual collections figure, as per the CGA accounts. Mr Chandrashekhar said provisions have already been made to involve chartered accountants in cases of excise duty review (desk review), by the department. Services of chartered accountants and cost accountants are used in an advisory capacity for cases of audit of very large assessees having complicated accounting systems and voluminous transactions, like audit of multi-location units.