Total indirect tax collections rises 16.8 per cent

Total indirect tax collections rises 16.8 per centAccording to the latest release by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), the total indirect tax receipts recorded an increase of 16.8 per cent in April-November period this year.

The data showed that the total indirect tax collections rose to Rs 2,52,544 crore even after a major reduction in duties on crude and petroleum products since June this year. The centre sacrificed revenues of close to Rs 4,000 crore a month since July due to changes in taxation rules related to petroleum products.

CBEC Chairman, Mr S. K. Goyal said, “Ideally all three taxes – excise, customs and service tax – should be taken together before coming to a view. I think the overall collection performance is good and we are hopeful of achieving the targets for 2011-12.

The customs duty collections rose 15.2 per cent to Rs 1,00,062 crore while the Excise duty receipts grew 9.3 per cent to Rs 94,441 crore in the period. The Service tax collections also recoded an increase at 35 per cent to Rs 58,041 crore.

The growth is impressive because it came after sacrifice of revenues from petroleum products and also at a time when the industry has seen a slowdown in the country. Mr Goyal also pointed out that Centre's indirect tax collections till November accounted for 63.04 per cent of Budget estimate for the financial year compared to 62.88 per cent in 2010.