Indirect tax collections exceed estimated target in FY 2014-15

 The Dollar Business Bureau The Indirect Tax Collections for the financial year (FY) 2014-15 exceeded the Revised Estimates target of the year by Rs 4,000 crore. This was informed by the Ministry of Finance in an official release on Thursday. According the Ministry of Finance’s release, the total collections as on March 31, 2015, stands at Rs 5,46,479 crore based on the provisional report. The total collections on the last day of the FY2014-15 remained higher than that of the Revised Estimates target of Rs 5,42,325 crore for the FY 2014-15, added the release. Meanwhile, the provisional collections during the FY2014-15 has increased by 9.9%, which is against Rs 4,97,061 crore, the actual amount that was collected during the FY2013-14. The revised estimate remained Rs 82,577 lower than that of the Budget Estimate for 2014-15, which is Rs 6, 24,902 crore. Meanwhile, the sources say that the growth in indirect taxes is the result of the growth in industry output. The growth in the industrial output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production, registered a growth of 2.5% during the April-January period of the FY 2014-15, reflecting the slowdown. The Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, on Thursday, reiterated the Indian government’s commitment towards achieving a non-adversarial tax structure and facilitating an investor-friendly environment. Speaking on the investments into the country, the Finance Minister was also quoted to have said that the government is making all efforts to facilitate ways for the investments, for both foreign and domestic investors. Stating that the government is mulling various procedures towards attracting more funds into the country, the Minister also informed that the government is making steps towards rationalization of taxes and is making landmark changes in the country’s taxation system. The government is also looking forward for constitutional amendment for the introduction of Goods and Service Tax, the Minister added.  

This article was published on April 2, 2015.