Direct tax collection contracts in April-February period, at 8.13 lakh crore

Direct tax collections for the financial year till February 2019 stood at Rs 8.13 lakh crore, marginally short of Rs 8.43 lakh crore for the same period last financial year, minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur said.

The minister however noted, in a written reply in Lok Sabha, that indirect tax collections including goods and services tax (GST), clocked Rs 8.75 lakh crore, higher than Rs 8.43 lakh crore for the 11 month period till February 2019.

The minister added that in order to maximize direct tax collection, the income tax department was taking several steps including monitoring of advance tax payments by top taxpayers, recovery of outstanding demand besides monitoring payment of tax deducted at source (TDS) by top taxpayers.

Among other initiatives, the department was also organising awareness programmes regarding TDS/Tax Collection of Source (TCS) provisions for proper compliance.

“Utilizing information available through Statement of Financial Transactions and other agencies for detection of cases of tax evasion and new tax-payers enforcement action by way of searches and surveys, efforts towards widening of tax base, early disposal of high demand assessments and appeals for early recovery of demand, multi-media campaign to encourage voluntary compliance of tax laws, monitoring of payment of dividend distribution tax and regular assessment tax,” were among the other measures taken the department, Thakur said.

“As regards Indirect taxes various administrative steps have been taken by the government to improve the GST revenue like; GST rate rationalization to improve the tax compliance, mandatory e-filing and e-payment of taxes, penalty for delayed payment, extensive use of third party sources such as State VAT Department, income tax etc. for compliance verification,” Thakur added.

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