Net direct tax collections up 5.77 per cent in April-May

Net direct tax collections of the central government during the first two months of the current fiscal (2009-10) stood at Rs24,158 crore, up from Rs22,840 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal (April-May 2008-09), registering a growth of 5.77 per cent.

Corporate tax collections grew 5.56 per cent to Rs8,578 crore from Rs8,126 crore in the previous fiscal, while personal income tax (including FBT, STT and BCTT) grew 5.92 per cent to Rs15,559 crore from Rs14,690 crore in April-May 2008-09.

Securities transaction tax (STT), however, declined by 24.75 per cent to Rs795 crore from Rs1,057 crore in April-May last fiscal while fringe benefit tax (FBT) fell 5.57 per cent to Rs103 crore from Rs109 crore.

Overall refund outgo during the period increased by 26.19 per cent to Rs11,375 crore compared to Rs9,014 crore in the same period last year while refunds to non-corporate taxpayers grew 61.7 per cent to Rs2,149 crore from Rs1,329 crore in April-May 2008-09, spurred by faster processing of returns on the new national computer network.

Growth in May 2009, however, was 16.88 per cent at Rs11,919 crore against Rs10,198 crore in May 2008, as against a negative growth of 3.19 per cent for the month of April 2009.