Direct tax mop-up in the first quarter have been 80 per cent of last year’s Q1 collection, Pandey said, adding that income tax revenue may be affected more due to the pandemic than indirect taxes.

Tax revenue collections and e-way bills trends show that the economy is coming back on track and recovering sooner than what was anticipated at the time of the lockdown in March, though sectors such as hospitality, education and tourism are facing difficulties, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said Thursday.

Direct tax mop-up in the first quarter have been 80 per cent of last year’s Q1 collection, Pandey said, adding that income tax revenue may be affected more due to the pandemic than indirect taxes.

“For the month of June, going by the current trends, we have certain trends about how many people have made payment so far, and also the e-way bill … truck movement … all these things are giving encouraging signals that the economy is coming back to the realm sooner than what was being anticipated when the lockdown was started in March,” he said while addressing a Ficci event.

“These two numbers — GST and income tax — are encouraging numbers and also gives us some hope that wherever possible, businesses are finding ways to get started. But there were certain sectors … which are facing difficulty,” Pandey added. He also said taxation data for any entity used to exist in silos, but with the new Form 26AS, all information would be available to taxpayers to assist in accurately reporting income.