New Delhi: The government’s advance tax collection in this financial year till June 15 surged 27.6% year-on-year to ₹1.48 lakh crore, signalling a robust economy and strong corporate performance, said people privy to the information.
The amount included ₹1.14 lakh crore as corporate tax and ₹34,362 crore as personal income tax, they said.
The advance tax collection between April 1 and June 15 last year was ₹1.16 lakh crore, comprising ₹92,172 crore as corporate tax and ₹23,513 crore as personal income tax.
The numbers reflect the advance tax collection till 11 pm on June 15, the people said.
“The figures are expected to increase when further information is received from banks on Tuesday,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified.
The higher advance tax payments lifted the net direct tax collection for the April 1-June 15 period 21.8% year-on-year to ₹4.62 lakh crore.
‘Comfortable Liquidity Position’
“Higher advance tax combined is expected to result in a comfortable liquidity position ahead of the presentation of the full budget,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA.
The I-T department refunded ₹53,140 crore tax till June 15, against refunds of ₹39,390 crore in the year-ago period. The govt collected ₹19.58 lakh crore as net direct tax in 2023-24, 17.1% more than in the previous fiscal and exceeding the revised estimates by ₹13,000 crore.
The Centre has budgeted ₹21.99 lakh crore from direct tax collection in this fiscal. “In addition, the higher than anticipated dividend from the RBI provides a revenue upside, a portion of which could be used to pare the deficit below the 5.1% of GDP that was targeted in the interim budget,” Nayar said.
