India's net direct tax kitty surges 17.7% to ₹19.58 lakh cr in FY24, exceeds revised estimates

India's net direct tax collections saw a 17.7% growth in the fiscal year 2023-24, reaching ₹19.58 lakh crore, compared to ₹16.64 lakh crore in the preceding financial year i.e. FY 2022-23, as per data released by the Finance Ministry. The tax kitty has slightly surpassed the revised estimates for the year.

The Finance Ministry states, "The BE (Budget Estimates) for direct tax revenue in the Union Budget for 2023-24 were set at ₹18.23 lakh crore, which were revised to ₹19.45 lakh crore RE (Revised Estimates). The provisional direct tax collections [net of the refunds] have exceeded the BE by 7.40% and RE by 0.67%."

The gross direct tax collections (provisional) for the fiscal year 2023-24 amount to ₹23.37 lakh crore, showing an 18.48% year -on-year (YoY) growth.

According to provisional data released by the Finance Ministry, the boost in net tax collections during the final fortnight of the fiscal year was driven by personal income tax (PIT) and securities transaction tax (STT) collections, while the net corporate tax collection experienced a slight decrease. PIT and STT receipts also grew nearly twice as fast as corporate taxes did last year.

Before refunds, gross PIT collections, including STT, grew by 24.26%, reaching ₹12.01 lakh crore from the previous year's collection of ₹9.67 lakh crore, while gross corporate tax collections saw a 13.06% growth in 2023-24. However, after adjusting for refunds, corporate tax receipts showed only a 10.26% growth over the previous year's figures. In contrast, net PIT and STT receipts rose by 25.23%, reaching ₹10.44 lakh crore compared to ₹8.33 lakh crore in the previous year.

In FY 2023-24, gross corporate tax collections increased from ₹10 lakh crore to ₹11.32 lakh crore by the end of the fiscal year 2023-24, the net corporate tax collection, which is provisional, reached ₹9.11 lakh crore. This amount represents a growth of 10.26% compared to the net corporate tax collection of ₹8.26 lakh crore in the previous year, it adds.

The Ministry also highlighted that tax refunds issued in 2023-24 increased by 22.74% to ₹3.79 lakh crore compared to ₹3.09 lakh crore issued in the previous financial year.