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Informist, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025

 

--Govt Apr-Aug gross tax revenue INR 13.440 tln vs INR 13.327 tln year ago

--Govt: Apr-Aug state tax devolution INR 5.301 tln vs INR 4.557 tln year ago
--Govt Aug gross tax revenue INR 2.511 tln vs INR 2.485 tln year ago

 

NEW DELHI – The government's gross tax collections in Apr-Aug rose 0.8% year-on-year to INR 13.440 trillion, with income tax continuing to be the top contributor to the Centre's coffers, data released Tuesday by the Controller General of Accounts showed. The robust growth in tax collections, especially in direct taxes, seen over the last two years, is fading, with tax mop-up in August rising just 1% on year to INR 2.511 trillion.

 

Despite being the top contributor, income tax collections fell 2.5% on year in Apr-Aug to INR 4.410 trillion. Income tax collections in August rose 48.3% on year to INR 857 billion, mainly on account of the extension in the last date for filing income tax returns this year. The government had extended the deadline to file returns to Sept. 15 from Jul. 31 last year.

 

Corporate tax collections were tepid in August, falling 23.4% year-over-year to INR 307.06 billion, bringing the total collection in Apr-Aug to INR 2.293 trillion, up 2.1% on year. On a month-on-month basis, income tax collections were up 23.3% in August, while corporate tax collections rose 18.8%. 

 

The Budget has projected total tax collections in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) at INR 42.702 trillion, up 10.8% from the revised estimate of last year. Data for FY25 showed that the government has missed the revised aim by INR 582 billion. This means that for the government to meet its target this year, collections will have to grow at 12.5%.

 

The growth in tax collections during the first five months, albeit muted, was aided by a 5.2% rise in Central goods and services tax collections at INR 3.905 trillion. In August, Central GST collections grew 11.7% on year to INR 788.77 billion. 

 

The government's net tax collections during the first five months were down 7.3% to INR 8.104 trillion, with August's net tax falling 6.3% on year to INR 1.486 trillion. The fall in net taxes was also owing to a 16.3% rise in the Centre's devolution to states during the period. The government transferred INR 5.301 trillion to states in Apr-Aug. The total transfer to states so far translates to over 37% of the full year's aim of INR 14.224 trillion. The Budget has projected India's net tax collections at INR 28.374 trillion in FY26.

 

On the indirect tax front, customs and excise duty showed divergent performance with collections falling for the former and growing for the latter during Apr-Aug. The Budget has projected India's central GST collections to grow 11.3% in FY26, customs and excise to grow 2.1% and 3.9%, respectively. Based on the actual data for FY25, to meet the government's projections, central GST, customs, and excise collections will need to grow by 11.2%, 3.1%, and 5.8%, respectively. As per current data, customs duty collections are down 11.9% on year in Apr-Aug, while excise duty collections are up 7.6% on year. 

 

"These trends suggest that some undershooting in the FY26 BE for gross tax revenues, particularly on the direct taxes side, seems imminent, which is also likely to weigh on the devolution to the states in H2(Oct-Mar) FY26," said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA. "Besides, the GST numbers would also need to be closely monitored, following to assess the impact of the rate rationalisation on collections," she said.

 

The details for the central government's tax collections for Apr-Aug and Aug are as follows (in billion INR):

	Apr-Aug 2025	Apr-Aug 2024	Year on year % change
Corporation Tax	2,292.95	2,246.39	2.1
Income Tax	4,410.13	4,522.86	(-)2.5
Securities Transaction Tax	223.79	216.07	3.6
Other Receipts	0.06	0.05	20.0
Central GST	3,905.02	3,712.22	5.2
Union territory GST	14.87	12.86	15.6
Integrated GST	3.7	(-)24.46	0
GST compensation cess	619.6	624.62	(-)0.8
Customs	830.62	943.29	(-)11.9
Excise duty	1,119.27	1,040.06	7.6
Service Tax	(-)2.41	0.32	0
Other taxes	22.03	32.94	(-)33.1
Total	13,439.63	13,327.22	0.8

 

	Aug-25	Jul-25	Aug-24	Year-on-year % change
Corporation Tax	307.06	258.4	400.65	(-)23.4
Income Tax	856.98	694.86	577.98	48.3
Securities Transaction Tax	44.97	48.67	49.72	(-)9.6
Other Receipts	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.0
Central GST	788.77	799.02	706.06	11.7
Union territory GST	3.72	3.36	3.52	5.7
Integrated GST	(-)115.37	(-)154.05	82.13	0
GST compensation cess	116.55	119.8	119.15	(-)2.2
Customs	225.32	181.16	268.07	(-)15.9
Excise duty	279.64	283.58	271.94	2.8
Service Tax	(-)0.73	(-)0.16	0.19	0
Other taxes	3.61	4.36	5.51	(-)34.5
Total	2,510.53	2,239.01	2,484.93	1.0

 

End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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