Indirect tax receipts up 11% in Apr

[N.Sukumar]

NEW DELHI: Indirect tax collections grew 11% in the first month of the
current fiscal despite a decline in excise collection, the government
said on Wednesday. Excise duty collection fell by 3.9% to Rs 6,410
crore in April from Rs 6,673 crore a year ago. Customs duty collection
grew by 24.9 % to Rs 9,018 crore in April against Rs 7,221 crore in
the same month last year, thanks to high growth in imports.

Total indirect tax collection (excluding service tax) rose by 11 % to
Rs 15,428 crore against Rs 13,894 crore during the period. Excise duty
collection has been falling short of target for quite some time.

Revised estimates for collections under this head had to be cut to Rs
1,27,947 crore for 2007-08 from Rs 1,30,220 crore in the budget
estimates. Even this truncated target could not be met and the Centre
could collect only Rs 1,25,000 crore from excise duty during the
year.

N.Sukumar
Research Analyst