Govt indirect tax kitty swells

Robust collections in customs duty made up for slack pace of excise duty mop up, with both levies increasing the government kitty by 16.8 per cent to Rs 1,79,265 crore (Rs 1,792.65 billion) during first 11 months of this fiscal.

The contrast of customs duty collections and those of excise duty could be gauged from the fact that while the former fetches 35.3 per cent more revenue to the government during April-February, the latter contributed just 5.8 per cent higher receipts.

Customs duty collections stood at Rs 77,693 crore (Rs 776.93 billion) during the period against Rs 57,434 crore (Rs 574.34 billion) a year ago, while excise duty mop up rose to Rs 1,01,571 crore (Rs 1,015.71 billion) against Rs 96,029 crore (Rs 960.29 billion), according to official figures released on Friday.

For February, customs duty contributed Rs 6,821 crore (Rs 68.21 billion), up 46.2 per cent over Rs 4,666 crore (Rs 46.66 billion) in February last, whereas excise chipped in Rs 10,896 crore (Rs 108.96 billion) which is 3.8 per cent more than Rs 10,501 crore (Rs 105.01 billion).

Concerned at 'sizable' excise duty evasion, Finance Minister P Chidambaram recently warned corporates that the non-payment

of this duty would be a black spot on them and would haunt them throughout the year.

Collections from indirect tax altogether could not be known for the first 11 months as service tax figures are not available for the month of February.

Service tax swelled the government exchequer by 64.4 per cent at Rs 28,877 crore (Rs 288.77 billion) for the first 10 months. For January, Service tax kitty grew by 62.1 per cent at Rs 3,203 crore (Rs 32.03 billion) against Rs 1,976 (Rs 19.76 billion) a year earlier.

During April-Jaunary period, indirect taxes, comprising service tax and customs and excise duties, fetched 22.2 per cent more revenue at Rs 1,90,424 crore (Rs 1,904.24 billion) against Rs 1,55,859 crore (Rs 1,558.59 billion) a year ago.