New Delhi: Income Tax collections recorded a whopping 54 per cent growth at Rs 12,498 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal.
The magnificent growth is achieved apparently due to some high spenders paying up taxes after notices from taxmen now armed with information on high-value purchases of property, mutual funds, cash deposits in bank and credit card spending.
Corporate tax registered a 46.9 per cent rise at Rs 15,521 crore during the first three months of the current fiscal against Rs 10,565 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, sources in the Finance Ministry said.
Corporate tax collections recorded 40 per cent growth during the first quarter of the last fiscal.
The total direct tax collections at over Rs 28,000 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal represented about 50 per cent growth against Rs 180,687 crore during April-June in the last fiscal.
Pointing out that income tax collections are generally not so buoyant during the first quarter of a fiscal, the sources said this was apparently due to the stepped up efforts of the Government to collect taxes from high spenders on the basis of details secured from annual information returns.
Income tax collections, in fact, had declined by 25.67 per cent during April-June last year after Government raised the income tax exemption limit to Rs one lakh and consequent changes in tax rates.
High spenders now know that the Revenue Department has got specific information about their spending, the sources said some have started paying their taxes and more expected to pay up their taxes in the coming months with taxmen likely to get at them.
Because of AIRs, more and more high spenders have started paying taxes, which also included those for earlier years, the sources said.
Government gets information through AIRs on spending of at least Rs 30 lakh in property, Rs two lakh in mutual funds, cash deposits in banks over Rs 10 lakhs annually and credit card spending over Rs two lakhs yearly besides large purchases of equity and purchase of high value plasma television, pen and other luxury items including cars.
As per AIR reports, of 6,60,000 separate parties going for 17,52,652 high value transactions, only 1,84,980 parties have quoted permanent accounts numbers (PANs). The remaining 4,75,019 parties are without PANs.
The sources said the Department is identifying the number of cases where these high spenders have PANs but they don't quote them and those who do not have the numbers at all.
Of those who do not have PANs, there may be certain category of high spenders who do not require to have these numbers like agriculturalists who have only farm income.
Now the remaining people, about 4 lakh, are being given letters that they are not filing returns.
The sources hoped that the Department would get around 2,00,000 people under the tax net this way, adding that they are all rich people.
Last week, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had served an ultimatum to people making high-value purchases, asking them to pay taxes and file returns before July 31, failing which Income Tax department would get at them.
Armed with Annual Information Returns, Chidambaram said the tax department will "pursue every single person whose names are thrown up by AIR... sooner or later they will be reached."
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