Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has directed the Income Tax Department to make all efforts to achieve the revised direct tax target of Rs.4 lakh crores. Addressing the All India Conference on Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) here today, Shri Mukherjee congratulated the department on reaching tax collection figure of Rs.2.50 lakh crore by December 2009 showing a growth rate of around 8.5%.

In order to achieve the revised target, the field formations may consider of taking steps which include identification of new areas for tax collection; indepth scrutiny of cross-border transactions; regular interactions with the Central Government and other State Government Departments who are responsible for deduction of TDS; monitoring of TDS at the district level where the massive social expenditure and infrastructure expenditure are incurred by the Government; and regular sharing of information amongst the Commissionerates to develop a common data base of new areas explored by each Commissionerate for collection of TDS.

Pointing out that although during the last 5 years the contribution from TDS had gone up from 33% to 38.5% of the net direct tax collection, Shri Mukherjee expected that this high growth rate in TDS collection could be further accelerated. He observed that smaller towns were witnessing greater tax collection due to buoyancy in the economy.

Shri Mukherjee observed that globalization of the Indian economy had created opportunity in terms of a global market for movement of capital, goods, services and human resources as well as greater risk in terms of sophisticated tax planning tools for avoiding tax liabilities in developing countries. In this context the role of tax havens and low tax jurisdictions had become an area of great concern for a country like India, which needed to mobilize resources to attack poverty and illiteracy, he added.

The Finance Minister said that the Indian economy in the aftermath of global financial crisis has started moving in the right direction due to sustained fiscal stimulus provided by the Government in three phases. He expressed his confidence that during this fiscal year a growth rate of more than 7.75% is achievable. It is due to high growth rate of Indian economy and higher quantum of revenue collection, this Government could think of taking bold initiatives like debt relief to the farmers amounting to Rs. 71,000 crores and also massive expenditure on social and infrastructure projects, he added.

The globalization of Indian economy with the rest of the world has created an opportunity as well as threats. The opportunity is in terms of a global market for movements of capital, goods, services and human resources but at the same time it has offered threat in terms of sophisticated tax planning tools for avoiding the tax liabilities in developing countries. The role of tax havens and low tax jurisdictions has become an area of great concern for a country like India which is putting its all acts together to mobilize resources to attack on poverty and illiteracy.