The total collection was ₹1.54 lakh crore, up 4% from a year earlier, slowing sharply from the corresponding 27% growth last year, dragged down by lower personal income tax payments.
The amount collected was as of 11 pm on June 15. To be sure, with the last two days for making payments falling on a weekend, collection may improve further when these are reconciled later this week, officials added. Advance tax is paid in four instalments in a fiscal year—June 15, September 15, December 15 and March 15.
ET Bureau“A low growth amid high refunds in Q1 may be suggestive of a moderate pace of growth and expected profits, given the continuing global uncertainties related to tariffs and geopolitics,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA.
‘Pace of Collections could Vary’
The ₹ 1.54 lakh crore included ₹ 1.21 lakh crore advance corporate tax and ₹ 32,970 crore in advance personal income tax.
Last year at the same point, advance tax collection was up 27% at ₹1.48 lakh crore—₹1.14 lakh crore as corporate tax and ₹ 34.36 crore as personal income tax.
“Overall, the numbers suggest that while the economy is stable, the pace of collections could vary depending on how key sectors perform amid global turmoil and how refunds are processed,” said Amit Maheshwari, tax partner, AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects the economy to grow 6.5% in the current fiscal, same as last year. However, initial data has been mixed—while goods and services tax (GST) collection rose 12.6% and 16.4% in April and May, respectively, industrial growth printed at 2.7% in April.
Direct taxes
The total income tax collections net of refunds as on June 16 was ₹4.56 lakh crore, marginally down by 1.5% on account of the high base effect and an over 60% increase in refunds.
Net collections included corporate tax of ₹1.72 lakh crore and ₹2.84 lakh crore of personal income tax, including securities transaction tax (STT).
The income tax department issued refunds of ₹85,675 crore, up 61% against the same period of previous year.
Before adjusting for refunds, gross collections stood at ₹5.41 lakh crore, up about 5%.
Among the minor heads, securities transactions tax (STT) collected during the April 1-June 15 period amounted to ₹13,012 crore, ₹3.34 lakh crore tax deducted at source and ₹28,096 crore self-assessment tax.
The Centre has budgeted to collect ₹25.2 lakh crore as direct taxes in FY26.
Net direct tax collection in FY25 grew 13.6% to ₹22.3 lakh crore, exceeding the initial budgeted target.
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