What is Direct tax and Indirect Tax?
Key Highlights
- Overall Growth
- Net direct tax collections rose by 13.13% YoY to ₹21.3 trillion as of March 16, FY25.
- Driven largely by strong advance tax collections and improved compliance.
- Advance Tax Collections Surge
- Advance tax collections increased by 14.6% to ₹10.4 trillion, showing robust business and personal income growth.
- The fourth installment deadline (March 15) further accelerated collections.
- Segment-Wise Analysis
- Non-corporate tax collections (from individuals, HUFs, and others) grew significantly by 17.5% YoY to ₹11.01 trillion, indicating rising prosperity in the non-corporate sector and better tax discipline.
- Corporate tax collections grew at a slower pace of 7.1% to ₹9.69 trillion, reflecting moderate corporate profit growth relative to individual and small business income.
- Securities Transaction Tax (STT)
- STT collections soared by 55.5% to ₹53,095 crore, suggesting a sharp rise in market activity and equity market buoyancy.
- Gross Direct Tax and Refunds
- Gross direct tax collections grew by 16.15% to ₹25.9 trillion.
- Refunds also rose by 32.5% to ₹4.6 trillion, highlighting efficient tax administration and faster processing.
- Advance Tax Components
- Within advance tax, corporate tax contributed ₹7.6 trillion (up 12.5%), while non-corporate tax contributed ₹2.9 trillion (up 20.5%), showing greater tax contribution from small businesses and individuals.
- Macroeconomic Linkage
- Revenue growth is supported by factors like digitalization, improved compliance, simplification of tax laws, and moderate industrial growth (Q3FY25: revenue up 6.2%, EBITDA up 11%, PAT up 12%).
- Government Targets
- The government’s revised target for FY25 is ₹22.37 trillion in direct tax collections and ₹16.16 trillion from indirect taxes (total ₹38.53 trillion).
India’s direct tax collection growth is a positive signal of economic resilience, rising income levels, and improved tax compliance. While corporate tax growth has been steady, the surge in non-corporate tax and STT reflects deeper market participation and increasing formalization of small businesses and individuals in the tax net.
Source: BS
