The growth in direct tax collections, which comprises personal income tax and corporate taxes, was driven mainly by increase in income tax collections. On a gross basis, the collections grew 22.58 per cent to Rs 16.68 lakh crore.

Refunds amounting to Rs 2.95 lakh crore have been issued during April 1, 2022 to March 10, 2023, which are 59.44 per cent higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year. Refunds are being cleared for previous year also, that’s why the steep growth this year, a senior tax department official said.

Direct tax collection, net of refunds, stood at Rs 13.73 lakh crore, which is 16.78 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year. This is 96.67 per cent of the total budget estimates and 83.19 per cent of the total revised estimates of direct taxes for the financial year 2022-23, the CBDT said in a statement.

After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in corporate income tax collections is 13.62 per cent and that in personal income tax collections including Securities Transaction Tax is 20.06 per cent, it said.

With just 21 days remaining before the end of this fiscal, officials said meeting revised direct tax collections target would be a bit tough given the aggressive targets set during the revised estimates, the official said.