Net direct tax coffers rise 9 percent to Rs 18.4 lakh cr till January 11 – The Times of India

Net direct tax collection grew by around 8.82 per cent to over Rs 18.38 lakh crore in the current fiscal till January 11, due to slower refunds and better corporate tax hike.Data released by the Income Tax Department on Monday showed that net corporate tax collections rose 12.4 per cent to over Rs 8.63 lakh crore, and taxes from non-corporates, including individuals and HUFs, rose 6.39 per cent to around Rs 9.30 lakh crore.Tax collections on securities transactions stood at Rs 44,867 crore between April 1 and January 11, a flat growth compared to the same period last year.Issuance of tax refunds fell 17 percent to Rs 3.12 lakh crore during the period.Gross direct tax collection rose 4.14 per cent to around Rs 21.50 lakh crore till January 11 this fiscal.This includes collection of gross corporate and non-corporate tax of Rs 10.47 lakh crore and Rs 10.58 lakh crore respectively.Rohinton Sidhwa, partner at Deloitte India, said the net collection growth of 9 percent is encouraging and seems to indicate that the government is on track to achieve the year-end target. However, this is due to significantly lower refunds being released to both business and individual taxpayers.“Exact details on why refund trends differ significantly from the previous year are not very clear,” Sidhwa said.For the current fiscal (2025-26), the government has estimated direct tax collections at Rs 25.20 lakh crore, up 12.7 per cent year-on-year.The government aims to collect Rs 78,000 crore from STT in FY26.