India’s direct tax collections after refunds grew at an impressive 23.1% year-on-year to Rs 8.11 lakh crore during April 1-August 10, data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday showed. The rise in direct tax mop-up was broad-based but was supported by a slowing pace of refunds.
The collections so far account for 30.1% of the government’s budgeted direct tax collections target of Rs 26.97 lakh crore for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). The pace of collections till now is sharply higher than the 11.4% growth projected in the Budget for the whole of FY27.
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Slowing Refund Payouts
The government collected Rs 9.55 lakh crore in direct taxes, including refunds, during April 1-August 10, up 19.8% year-on-year. The government issued refunds worth Rs 1.43 lakh crore till August 10, up just 3.8% year-on-year. The pace of refunds was sharply lower than the 14.6% seen till July 13.
“Data shows strong growth in gross non-corporate taxes and STT collections, and a slowdown in refunds. This is leading to 23% growth in net collections. It is expected, however, that the pace of refunds will increase over the next few months,” said Rohinton Sidhwa, partner, Deloitte India.
Personal Income Tax
Corporate tax collections after refunds rose 19.8% year-on-year to Rs 2.70 lakh crore during the said period. The Budget had projected corporate tax collections to grow 11% to Rs 12.31 lakh crore in FY27.
Personal income tax collections after refunds rose 23.4% year-on-year to INR 5.07 lakh crore. These include taxes paid by individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, firms, local authorities, and artificial juridical persons.
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The government has collected Rs 33,824 crores in securities transaction tax (STT) till August 10, up 51.3% year-on-year. In the Budget, the government had projected STT collections to rise 15.8% year-on-year to Rs 73,700 crores. The sharp rise in STT collections reflects the increase in the tax on futures transactions to 0.05% from 0.02% in the Budget for FY27.
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