Indirect tax collections up 45 per cent in August

The union government's indirect tax collections grew 45 per cent to Rs27,947 crore in August 2010, against Rs19,295 crore in the same period of the previous year, on the back of robust demand in the economy and strong industrial performance in the previous month.

While customs duty collections grew 51 per cent in the April-August period to Rs10,321 crore (against Rs6,827 crore the previous year), excise collections grew 38 per cent at Rs11,412 crore (Rs8,261 crore). Service tax collections 2010 stood at Rs6,214 crore (Rs4,207 crore).

For the first five months (April-August) of the current fiscal, the centre's indirect tax collections grew near 46 per cent to Rs1,24,170 crore (Rs85,097 crore). The indirect tax collections have been boosted by strong industrial growth in the four months to July 2010.

Industrial growth in July stood at over 13 per cent, with manufacturing sector recording 15 per cent growth on a year-on-year basis.

Going by the current trend in indirect tax collections, the government is well on course to achieve the budget estimate for 2010-11, officials said. The centre has targeted indirect tax collections of Rs3.15 lakh crore for 2010-11. Nearly 40 per cent of the collection target for the year has already been achieved in the first four months of the current fiscal.

The centre had in the 2010-11 budget initiated fiscal stimulus withdrawal through a 2 per cent hike in excise duty rate from 8 per cent to 10 per cent. More than 70 per cent of the excise collections come at the median rate of 10 per cent. The government had also in the 2010-11 budget imposed import duty of 5 per cent on crude oil, besides making duty changes in petro products.