Net direct tax collection soars 7% to over ₹12.9 trillion; refunds down 17.7% YoY — Details here

The Income Tax Department of India's data released on Tuesday, 11 November 2025, showed that the net direct tax collections rose 7% to more than ₹12.9 trillion as of 10 November 2025 for the financial year ending 2025-26, according to the official data.

The income tax department data showed that the total net collections of direct tax increased 7% year-on-year (YoY) to more than ₹12.92 trillion, compared with ₹12.07 trillion in the previous financial year 2024-25.

Direct taxes are duties which an individual taxpayer pays directly to the central government. These taxes include income tax, real property tax, personal property tax, and taxes on other assets owned by an individual.

The data also showed that the gross net collections of direct tax rose 2.15% to more than ₹15.35 trillion in the 2025-26 fiscal year, compared to ₹15.02 trillion in the same period of the previous financial year, according to the data release.

Income Tax Refunds

According to the data collected from the Income Tax Department, the direct tax refunds recorded a 17.72% drop to ₹2.42 trillion as of 10 November 2025, in the financial year ending 2025-26, compared year-on-year (YoY) with ₹2.94 trillion in the same period a year ago.

The Income Tax Department announced the direct tax data through its social media platform X account on Tuesday evening.

Here's what the expert says

Rohinton Sidhwa, Partner at Deloitte India, said that the “non-corporate tax” under the direct tax collections has kept up the pace despite the rate cuts last year. The tax expert also said that this shows strong growth in the income level of the people of the country.

“The data shows that remarkably non-corporate tax collections have kept pace in spite of the very significant rate cut last year. This is a very good sign showing stronger growth of income levels,” said Sidhwa.

The tax expert also highlighted that the direct tax refunds have come down significantly, and this move is potentially due to the taxpayers who paid cash and are no longer under the tax net.

“Refunds, on the other hand, have come down very significantly. This could mean that taxpayers that paid cash taxes are either no longer in the tax net or the Government has consciously throttled back on refunds,” said the tax expert.

“STT collections have largely been flat - reflecting the sideways movement of the indices. Given the IPO expansion, there is potential there for more growth,” said Rohinton Sidhwa.

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