INDIRECT TAX

The figures for indirect tax collections (Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs) up to December 2016 show that net revenue collections are at ₹ 6.30 lakh crore, which is 25% more than the net collections for the corresponding period last year. Till December 2016, about 81% of the Budget Estimates of indirect taxes for Financial Year 2016-17 has been achieved.

As regards Central Excise, net tax collections stood at ₹ 2.79 lakh crore during April-December, 2016 as compared to ₹ 1.95 lakh crore during the corresponding period in the previous Financial Year, thereby registering a growth of 43%.

Net Tax collections on account of Service Tax during April-December, 2016 stood at ₹ 1.83 lakh crore as compared to ₹ 1.48 lakh crore during the corresponding period in the previous Financial Year, thereby registering a growth of 23.9%.

Net Tax collections on account of Customs during April-December 2016 stood at ₹ 1.67 lakh crore as compared to ₹ 1.60 lakh crore during the same period in the previous Financial Year, thereby registering a growth of 4.1%.

During December 2016, the net indirect tax (with ARM) grew at the rate of 14.2% compared to corresponding month last year. The growth rate in net collection for Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax was -6.3%, 31.6% and 12.4% respectively during the month of December, 2016, compared to the corresponding month last year.

The de-growth in customs collections appear to be on account of a decline of gold imports by about 46% (in volume terms) in December 2016 over December 2015.

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Indirect tax collections show growth driven by central excise and service tax, while customs decline in December. Net receipts from indirect tax collections (Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs) for April-December 2016 increased year on year and achieved a large portion of the Budget Estimate; Central Excise and Service Tax were the main drivers of growth, while Customs showed modest annual growth but fell in December due chiefly to reduced gold imports.