Net direct tax collections till November 10 at Rs 12.92 lakh crore, up 7% YoY

Refunds stood at Rs 2.42 lakh crore till November 10

The central government’s direct tax collections, after refunds, stood at Rs 12.92 lakh crore between April 1 to November 10 of FY26, data released by the Income Tax Department showed on Tuesday.

As compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the net direct tax collections were up 7 percent on year. This growth is lower than the projection made in the Budget.

The Union Budget for FY26, has pegged net direct tax collections to rise 16.1 percent year-on-year.

According to the I-T data, net corporate tax collections till November 10 stood at Rs 5.37 lakh crore, up 5.7 percent on year. And net non-corporate tax collections (include personal income tax and securities transaction tax) stood at Rs 7.55 lakh crore, 8.2 percent higher on year.

The Budget, however, has pegged net corporate tax mop-up to rise 9.7 percent year-on-year in FY26, and net non-corporate tax to increase by 21.6 percent.

"New tax proposals for FY 26 include income tax benefits, expected to result in a revenue forgone of nearly Rs 1 lakh crore. This policy move was factored into the budget estimate, but it still dampens the pace of collection," noted Hitesh Sawhney, Partner, Price Waterhouse & Co.

"Achieving the annual target will likely depend on stronger economic activity and continued administrative efforts in the remaining months of the fiscal year," added Sawhney.

Refunds, meanwhile, stood at Rs 2.42 lakh crore between April 1 – November 10. This is lower by 17 percent as compared to same period of last fiscal. Between April-November 10 FY25, refunds stood at Rs 2.95 lakh crore.

“Refunds have come down very significantly. This could mean that tax payers that paid cash taxes are either no longer in the tax net or the government has consciously throttled back on refunds,” said Rohinton Sidhwa, Partner, Deloitte India.

The gross direct tax mop-up stood at Rs 15.35 lakh crore, which was 2.15 percent up on year