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Informist, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

--Govt Apr-Jan gross tax revenue INR 32.418 tln vs INR 29.844 tln year ago
--Govt: Apr-Jan state tax devolution INR 11.398 tln vs INR 10.742 tln year ago
--Govt Jan gross tax revenue INR 2.575 tln vs INR 2.339 tln year ago

NEW DELHI – The government's gross tax collections rose 10.1% on year to INR 2.575 trillion in January, with a sharp jump in corporate tax collections and a steady rise in income tax mop-up. Rise in central goods and services tax collections also contributed to the growth in January, data released Friday by the Controller General of Accounts showed. The government's total tax collections in the first 10 months of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) rose 8.6% on year to INR 32.418 trillion. 

Corporate tax collections in January grew 180.8% on year to INR 291.88 billion. Corporate tax collections in the first 10 months of the year totalled INR 8.620 trillion, up 14.7% on year. The pace of growth in corporate tax collections during Apr-Jan is higher than the 12.4% on-year growth projected in the revised Budget estimate for FY26. On a monthly basis, January corporate tax collections were nearly 90% lower than in December, when companies paid their advance tax instalment.

As per revised estimates, the government projected total tax collections in FY26 at INR 40.78 trillion, up 7.4% on year. The revised estimate for total tax collections is INR 1.9 trillion below the Budget estimate for FY26. 

While the pace of corporate tax collections is higher than the one assumed in revised estimates, income tax collections remain lacklustre, growing at 4.9% during Apr-Jan, lower than 6.2% on-year growth assumed in the Budget. Income tax collections in Apr-Jan were INR 9.571 trillion. In January, income tax collections were INR 844.13 billion, up 12.6% on year. The Budget projected corporate tax and income tax collections at INR 11.09 trillion and INR 13.12 trillion in FY26, respectively.

Central GST collection in Apr-Jan rose 6.1% to INR 7.983 trillion. In January, central GST collections grew 10.6% on year to INR 876.80 billion. January was the third full month after the GST rate changes announced in September played out. On a month-on-month basis, CGST collections in January rose 18.3%.  

The GST Council overhauled the indirect tax regime by collapsing the four-slab GST structure of 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28% to a two-slab structure of 5% and 18%, with effect from Sept. 22. The council also introduced a new GST rate of 40% on sin and luxury goods. 

As part of the rate changes, the GST Council also removed compensation cess on all products from Sept. 22, barring tobacco-related products. The cess was introduced to bring states on board to adopt the GST regime. Initially set to expire in June 2022, the cess was extended until March 2026 to repay INR 2.69 trillion in loans taken by the Centre to partly bridge the states' revenue shortfall during the COVID-19 pandemic. These loans are expected to be repaid soon, meaning tobacco and related products will no longer attract them. 

Because of the change, GST compensation cess collection dipped 23.6% on year in Apr-Jan to INR 954.73 billion. In January, it tumbled 57.5% on year to INR 56.96 billion.

The government's net tax collections during the first 10 months rose 10% to INR 20.942 trillion, with January's net tax rising 156.1% on year to INR 1.550 trillion. The government transferred INR 11.398 trillion to states as tax devolution in Apr-Jan. The total transfer to states so far amounts to nearly 82% of the full-year revised target of INR 13.930 trillion. As per revised estimates, India's net tax collections for FY26 are projected at INR 26.747 trillion.

On the indirect tax front, customs and excise duty collections performed well in Apr-Jan. The Budget has projected customs and excise duties to grow by 10.8% and 12.1%, respectively. As per current data, customs duty collections are up 15.5% on year and excise duty collections are up 10.0% on year in Apr-Jan.

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

End

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Saji George year

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