Direct tax mop-up for 2024-25 hits target; record refunds issued: Data

The provisional net direct tax collection for the 2024-25 financial year has met the set target, growing 13.57 per cent to over Rs 22.26 lakh crore with the income tax department issuing the highest-ever amount of refunds ever delivered, official data showed Friday.

The government set a target of Rs 22,07,000 crore for the direct tax administration as per the budget receipt of July 2024 and revised it to Rs 22,37,000 crore during the budget presented this February.

Direct taxes include revenue collected by the Union government under the corporate taxes and non-corporate taxes category (earlier personal income tax). The non-corporate taxes category includes taxes paid by individuals, firms, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), local authorities, artificial juridical persons etc.

According to official data, the provisional gross (before adjusting for refunds) direct tax collection for the 2024-25 fiscal that ended March 31 stood at Rs 27.02 lakh crore, a growth of 15.59 per cent, when compared to the gross collection of Rs 23.37 lakh crore during the 2023-24 fiscal.

Similarly, the provisional figures for net (after issuing refunds) direct tax collections for the 2024-25 fiscal stood at Rs 22.26 lakh crore, an increase of 13.57 per cent as compared to Rs 19.60 lakh crore in the preceding 2023-24 fiscal, the data shows.

The provisional net direct tax collections are 100.78 per cent as per the July receipt budget target (Rs 22.07 lakh crore) and 99.51 per cent of the revised estimate target presented during the February budget (Rs 22.37 crore).

These direct tax collection figures are provisional and the collections are expected to grow as last stage reconciliation the fiscal are underway. The data shows that the tax department issued the highest-ever refunds worth Rs 4,76,743 crore during the said fiscal.