Centre nets Rs 17 lakh cr in taxes, collection a 6-yr high

Helped by a double digit growth in excise and service tax revenues, the Centre’s net tax collection for 2016-17 rose 18% to Rs 17.10 lakh crore, which is a six-year high.

The Ministry of Finance said the total tax receipts for 2016-17 were higher than the revised estimates of Rs 16.97 lakh crore made in the Budget presented on February 1 this year.

The provisional figures for direct tax collections up to March 2017 show that net collections are at Rs 8.47 lakh crore, which is 14.2% more than the net collections of the corresponding period last year.

The growth in tax revenues come even after a temporary cash crunch propelled by the government's decision to withdraw high denomination currency in November last year.
Officials said the rise in tax revenues bolster the chances of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reigning in the fiscal deficit at targeted 3.5% for 2016-17.

There were apprehensions that demonetisation will have an adverse impact on tax and non-tax revenues.

Central excise duty collection grew 33.9%, and service tax collection were up 20.2% in 2016-17. Customs duty grew 7.4%. This was despite economy slowing at 7.1%. Officials said a crackdown on black money may have led to better tax compliance.

 Net personal income tax collections after refunds grew at 21% and net corporate tax receipts grew at 6.7%, according to a finance ministry data.