India's direct tax mop-up rises 20.37 per cent in April-January 2010-11

Net direct tax collections in the country stood at Rs3,17,501 crore during the April 2010 to January 2011 period, up from Rs2,63,765 crore in the same period last fiscal, recording a growth of 20.37 per cent.

Corporate income tax collections recorded a growth of 24.78 per cent at Rs2,16,872 crore during the first 10 months of the current financial year compared with Rs1,73,799 crore collected in the similar period last fiscal.

Personal income tax, including STT, and residual FBT / BCTT, grew at 11.87 per cent to Rs1,00,191 crore during the period from Rs89,561 crore in the first 10 months of the previous financial year.

The buoyancy in direct tax collection has helped improve collections despite a 38.65 per cent growth in tax refunds, which stood at Rs53,688 crore during April-January 2010-11 against Rs38,721 crore in the similar period of the previous fiscal.

The centralized processing center of the Income Tax Department at Bengaluru had also completed processing of all e-filed tax returns for the current assessment year 2010-11. As such, all taxpayers who have filed e-returns and whose refund claim is below Rs10 lakh would be issued their income tax refunds by March 2011, the release said.

The chairman CBDT has directed all chief commissioners to upload necessary data so that the refunds can be issued expeditiously. For the first time, most income tax refunds of the current assessment year will be dispatched to the taxpayers within the current financial year itself, the release noted.