The Central Government is likely to
stick to the budgeted estimate of total tax collection target of Rs 33.61
trillion for current fiscal in the revised estimates, a senior finance ministry
official said on Monday.
“So far, direct tax collection is up by
about 20 per cent and indirect tax is higher by 5 per cent. We have data till
the eight months of the fiscal and usually the collections are better in the
first half. So, at the moment, we will stick to the Budget numbers in our
Revised Estimates (RE),” an official said.
For 2023-24 (April-March), the Union
Budget had pegged total tax collections at Rs 33.61 trillion, up 10.1 per cent
from Rs 30.54 trillion in the previous year.
In the current fiscal, Rs 18.23 trillion
is expected to be collected in direct taxes (personal income tax and corporate
tax), and Rs 15.38 trillion from indirect taxes (GST, Customs, excise).
The revised estimates for current fiscal’s
revenue numbers would be presented as part of the vote on account or interim
budget to be presented by the Union finance minister on February 1, 2024, in
Parliament.
Asked if there could be a cut in taxes
on petrol and diesel, the official said the prices of brent crude have already
cooled in the international markets and there is no case for a cut in excise
duty on fuel.
Bharat is dependent on imports to meet
nearly 85 per cent of its oil needs and so benchmarks local fuel rates to
international oil prices.
“When crude oil prices were high, we cut
excise duty. When prices have already cooled, the question of tax cut is not there.
You can ask for price cut (of petrol and diesel), but it will not be because of
cut in taxes,” the official said.
Brent crude prices stood at US$ 76.40 a
barrel in the futures market early on Monday.
Excise duty on fuel was last cut in May
2022 to cool inflation. The central excise duty on petrol was then cut by Rs 8
per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre.
PTI
