Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the current financial year 2019-2020

Direct tax revenue has increased significantly over the past couple of years due to the efforts taken by the government, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she presented the Union Budget for the current financial year 2019-2020. However, Ms Sitharaman kept the income tax rates applicable to individual taxpayers unchanged in the first Budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term. "From Rs. 6.38 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to around Rs. 11.37 lakh crore in FY 2018-19, the growth in direct tax collections is more than 78%," the Finance Minister said. "It is now growing at double digit rates every year," she said.

Direct tax collection For the period FY 2013-14 to FY 2018-19 Financial Year Total Collection (Rs. in crore) Growth (%) 2013-14 6,38,596 14.24% 2014-15 6,95,792 8.96% 2015-16 7,41,945 6.63% 2016-17 8,41,713 13.45% 2017-18 10,02,741 19.13% 2018-19 (Provisional) 11,37,686 13.46%

(Source: Budget document)

According to government's provisional figures, total direct tax collections stood at over Rs 11.37 crore in financial year ending March 31, 2019, which marked a 13 per cent year-on-year increase.

Ms Sitharaman also highlighted the increase in the number of taxpayers, which she said, was due to various initiatives and taxpayer outreach programmes undertaken by the government.

The number of taxpayers increased by approximately 48 per cent over the period 2013-14 to 2017-18, from 5.71 crore taxpayers to 8.44 crore taxpayers, respectively, the government said.

No. of taxpayers for the period FY 2013-14 to FY 2018-19 Financial Year No. of taxpayers Growth (%) 2013-14 5,71,58,811 8.27% 2014-15 6,15,23,699 7.64% 2015-16 6,92,73,834 12.60% 2016-17 7,41,27,250 7.01% 2017-18 8,44,46,376 13.92%

(Source: Budget document)

In 2018-19, the number of taxpayers stood at over 8.4 crore, an increase of 13.92 per cent from the last financial year.