Income Tax collections are expected to fall short by an estimated Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) because of a huge shortfall in the overall TDS mop up in the just concluded 2014-15 fiscal.
Sources told PTI that the department has till now collected an estimated Rs 6,96,000 crore (Rs 6.96 trillion) of taxes against the projected target of Rs 7,05,000 crore (Rs 7.05 trillion) for the just-ended financial year.
In FY14, the mop-up was Rs 5,83,000 crore (Rs 5.83 trillion). The government had revised the direct tax collection target to Rs 7,05,000 crore for the fiscal 2014-15 against the initial projection of Rs 7,36,000 crore (Rs 7.36 trillion) in view of the sluggish economic growth.
"The figures are by and large are settled now for the 2014-15 fiscal and the department would fall short of Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) in meeting the target. Earlier estimates of a higher deficit in this context can be negated now," they said.
The tax department, the sources said, registered a growth of only 7.83 per cent in the most crucial Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) category as compared to 18.04 per cent under the same category during the earlier fiscal.
"The department has left no stone unturned to get as much as TDS from various sectors as possible. But a sluggish manufacturing and building sector has made it impossible for the I-T department to get any more revenue on this front," the sources said.
The department has registered a low growth under the Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) category as it recorded only 18.5 per cent collections on this front as compared to the 24.5 per cent growth in the corresponding period last year.
The overall tax collection saw a downfall at 10.6 per cent as compared to the 17.6 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy making body of the I-T department, was very active in the last about 3 months to garner as much revenue as possible in the fiscal that ended on March 31 but a sluggish growth in certain sectors tied it efforts, the sources said.
"A non-adversarial tax compliance regime was the motto of the department and certain factors beyond the taxman's control attributed to the overall slump in revenue collection," they said.
