In August 2015, indirect tax revenue (provisional)  collections increased by 36.7% compared with August 2014; cumulatively, in April-August 2015 indirect tax collections increased by 36.5% percent over the same period last year, while, the asking rate for 2015-16 is 18.8%. Overall, in monetary terms, the indirect tax revenue (provisional) collections  increased to ₹ 2,63,089 crore during April-August 2015 from ₹ 1,92,677 crore during April-August 2014. In the month of August 2015 alone, the collections increased to ₹ 54,396 crore from ₹ 39,781 crore in August 2014. 

Collections on account of Central Excise increased from ₹ 60,663 crore in April-August 2014 to ₹ 1,02,945 crore in April-August 2015 and thereby registering an increase of 69.7 %. In case of Service Tax, collections increased from ₹ 61,693 crore in April-August 2014 to ₹ 75,006 crore in April-August 2015 and thereby registering an increase of 21.6 %. Collections on account of Customs increased from ₹ 70,321 crore in April-August 2014 to ₹ 85,138 crore in April-August 2015 and thereby registering an increase of 21.1 %.

These collections reflect in part increase due to additional measures taken by the Government from time to time, including the excise increases on diesel and petrol, the increase in clean energy cess, the withdrawal of exemptions for motor vehicles, capital goods and consumer durables, and from June 2015, the increase in Service Tax from 12.36 to 14 percent; customs duties collections have been aided by the rupee depreciation of 6 per cent between April and August this year.

However, stripped of all these additional measures, indirect tax collections increased by 12.2 percent during April-August 2015 as compared to April-August 2014.

These collections continue to suggest a healthy growth in the underlying tax base.

Details of overall Indirect Tax Revenue (Provisional) collections during April-June 2015 along with growth rate compared to the corresponding period in the previous year are as follows:

Indirect tax collection : April-August, 2015-16 (Prov.)

(Rs. in crores)

Tax Head	Actuals  2014-15  (prov.)	B.E 2015-16	Asking rate(%) for 2015-16	For August					April to August
				2014-15	2015-16	% Growth	Duty 2015-16 Without #ARM	%Growth Without #ARM	2014-15	2015-16	% Growth	Duty 2015-16 Without #ARM	%Growth Without #ARM
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Customs	187856	208336	10.9	15727	19062	21.2	18002	14.5	70321	85138	21.1	81138	15.4
*C.Excise	188238	228157	21.2	13084	21190	62.0	14024	7.2	60663	102945	69.7	66115	9.0
Service tax	168063	209774	24.8	10970	14144	28.9	12144	10.7	61693	75006	21.6	69006	11.9
Total	544157	646267	18.8	39781	54396	36.7	44170	11.0	192677	263089	36.5	216259	12.2

Indirect tax collections rise after policy measures and base growth, reflecting stronger revenue trend during the fiscal window Aggregate provisional indirect tax collections for August and April-August 2015 rose markedly across Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs, with Central Excise showing the largest proportional increase. The report attributes a portion of the headline gains to specific policy measures-excise increases on fuel, higher clean energy cess, withdrawal of exemptions, and a Service Tax rate rise-while separately reporting an adjusted increase that removes these measures to reflect underlying tax base expansion.