The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : I-T collection up by 46.95 per cent

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Sunday, Aug 17, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

I-T collection up by 46.95 per cent

M. Raghuram

Bangalore: The Income Tax department has scored a double in the first quarter of the current fiscal year with direct tax collection soaring to a record high of Rs.71,648 crore and the e-filing facility receiving an overwhelming response with 12.49 lakh tax payers in the country opting to file their returns electronically.

Sources in the department told The Hindu that the net direct tax collections in the first four months of the present fiscal (up to July end) stood at Rs.71,648 crore, up from Rs.48,756 crore during the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 46.95 per cent.

Growth in Corporate Taxes was 50.08 per cent (Rs.41,598 crore as against Rs.27,718 crore), while Personal Income Tax including Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT), Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) grew at 42.82 per cent (Rs.29,982 crore as against Rs.20,993 crore).

Growth of Fringe Benefit Tax was 44.34 per cent (Rs.1,260 crore against Rs.873 crore); STT was 15.46 per cent (Rs.2,164 crore against Rs.1,874 crore); and BCTT was 33.75 per cent (Rs.223 crore against Rs.167 crore).

Among regions, tax growth in Mumbai and Delhi was 36.33 per cent and 76.40 per cent.

Other regions with high tax growth are Nagpur (77.80 per cent); Kochi (58.08 per cent); Kolkata (49.87 per cent); Hyderabad (40.69 per cent) and Bangalore (40.25 per cent). Growth in direct tax collection has been driven by a growth of 44.56 per cent in Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) which stood at Rs.45,935 crore as against Rs.31,776 crore in the earlier year. Growth in corporate TDS was particularly high at 60.6 per cent.

The cost of direct tax collection, on the other hand, had declined to an all-time low of 0.54 per cent during fiscal 2007-08, amongst the lowest in the world.

According to the sources in the Central Board Direct Taxes “The facility of filing income-tax returns electronically (e-returns) has received overwhelming response from the taxpayers. As on July 31 last , 12.49 lakh e-returns were filed compared to 1.46 lakh e-returns filed up to the same date last year, an increase of 755 per cent. About 97 per cent of the 12.49 lakh e-returns have been filed voluntarily by individuals, professionals and small businesses.”

The largest number of e-returns was filed from Maharastra (278,112), followed by Delhi (153,992), Karnataka (144,287), Tamil Nadu ((118,354) and Gujarat (115,798).

e-returns have been received from far-off regions across the country such as Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshwadeep, which indicates that the system was now being accepted as a normal practice.

According to the Ombudsman of the Income Tax Department (Karnataka and Goa circle) S.K. Iyer, “ e-filing of returns helps the department to reach the refunds to the assesees faster and eliminates the chances of mistakes while filing the returns.”

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