Direct tax collections at 87% of FY23 target as on January 10

The Finance Ministry building situated in North Block, New Delhi

The Centre's direct tax collections, net of refunds, reached 86.7 percent of the 2022-23 budget target by January 10, the finance ministry said on January 11.

Between April 1, 2022 and January 10, 2023, the government's gross direct tax collections stood at Rs 14.71 lakh crore, the ministry said in a statement. Net of refunds, which amounts to Rs 2.4 lakh crore, the number is Rs 12.31 lakh crore, 19.6 percent higher from the corresponding period of the financial year 2021-22.

The Centre had estimated it would collect Rs 14.2 lakh crore as direct taxes in 2022-23—Rs 7.2 lakh crore in corporate tax and Rs 7 lakh crore in personal income tax.

"After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT (corporate income tax) collections is 18.33 percent and that in PIT (personal income tax) collections is 21.64 percent," the finance ministry said.

The latest data on the government's finances, including tax collections, is available only for the first eight months of 2022-23. Data for December will be released on January 31.

The robust growth in direct tax collections is good news for the government as indirect tax collections are also on the rise.

Data released on January 1 showed total Goods and Services Tax collected in December was Rs 1.5 lakh crore, up 2.5 percent month-on-month and 15.2 percent compared to December 2021.

Monthly GST collections have averaged Rs 1.49 lakh crore, so far, in the financial year 2022-23, up 20.5 percent from the monthly average for 2021-22.