Income tax receipts surpass revised budget target for 2020/21: Official

India's net direct tax receipts, mainly comprising corporate and individual income tax, were 9.45 trillion rupees ($126.33 billion) for the fiscal year ending on March 31, surpassing the revised budget target.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody on Friday said the income tax department has exceeded the revised estimates despite issuing substantial refunds in the 2020-21 fiscal.

During the fiscal, the net corporate tax collection stood at ₹4.57 lakh crore, while net personal income tax was ₹4.71 lakh crore. Another ₹16,927 crore came from securities transaction tax (STT).

The gross direct tax collection in the last fiscal stood at ₹12.06 lakh crore. After taking out the refunds of ₹2.61 lakh crore, the net mop up stood at ₹9.45 lakh crore. There has been a 42 per cent growth in the refund issuance.

In the revised estimates (RE) for 2020-21, the target was set at ₹9.05 lakh crore.

“Net direct tax collections for the FY 2020-21 have shown an upswing, despite the inherent challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy,” a finance ministry statement said.

The collection was 5 per cent higher than the RE, but was 10 per cent lower than the mop up in 2019-20.