Consider changing tactics to increase tax collection

New delhi date. September 19, 2019, Thursday

The government is rethinking its strategy to increase direct tax collection. Revenue from government direct taxes is still lower than the target in the current financial year. In the current fiscal year, the government has set a target of recovering Rs 1.8 lakh crore through direct taxes. The target is to collect Rs 1.8 lakh crore through corporate tax and Rs 1.8 lakh crore in income tax, Akhilesh Ranjan, a member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), said in an informal program at Assocham.

The increase in direct tax collection has been lower than expected. The CBDT will study this and change the recovery strategies, he said. Asked about the reduction in corporate tax collection, he said the issue was in the government's mind and Finance Minister recently expressed his opinion that there is a need to reduce corporate tax.

"The government is trying to simplify the taxation system to increase the compulsion to pay taxes," he said.

In the first six months of the current financial year, the advance tax collection has seen a growth of only 5%, compared to 5% in the same period last year. If the current tax on direct tax collection is to achieve the target of the year, then the recovery will have to be increased by 5% in the remaining six months.

In the current financial year, the target of direct tax collection has been raised by 8.5%. After the second installment of advance tax, the recovery figure has been Rs.5 trillion. The gross tax collection of direct taxes for the April-September period stood at Rs 1.8 lakh crore.

Advance taxes saw an increase in corporate tax collection by 8.5 percent and personal income tax collection by 8.5 percent, CBDT sources said. The decline in the country's economy is attributed to lower tax rates. If the situation continues, the current year's target will be difficult to achieve, the source added.