Corporate tax contributes Rs 1,00,655 crore to the government coffer so far this fiscal
 
A week before the Budget for 2007-08, direct tax collection for the current fiscal continues to be buoyant at Rs 1,63,423 crore. This is a 39.5% rise, against Rs 1,17,148 crore collected till the same period last fiscal. It is also almost equal to the Centre's direct tax collection of Rs 1,65,208 crore for 2005-06.

Corporate tax continues to be the largest gainer, contributing Rs 1,00,655 crore to the government's kitty so far. This is a 44.7% increase, compared to Rs 69,572 crore collected till February 19, 2006.

Strong corporate earnings, so far in the current fiscal, was considered to be the main reason for this massive increase in corporate tax collection, an official from the central board of direct taxes (CBDT) said. Another reason for the record growth is the large amount of advanced tax that was paid by companies this fiscal. Companies had paid a record Rs 69,65 crore as advanced tax this fiscal, a CBDT official said.

Personal income tax collection, including fringe benefit tax, has also continued its record growth to register a 29.2% growth at Rs 57,844 crore, compared with Rs 44,776 crore collected during the same period last fiscal.

Securities transaction tax collection stand at Rs 4,266 crore - a jump of 85.9% against last fiscal's Rs 2,295 crore. Similarly, banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) has also witnessed a 72.9% increase at Rs 409 crore. Last fiscal, BCTT collection stood at Rs 237 crore only.

Buoyed by such record growth in taxes, the revenue department is now certain of overshooting its budget estimate of Rs 2,10,684 crore for direct taxes for the fiscal by at least Rs 30,000 crore.