The Centre’s net direct taxes collections saw a growth of 14.7 percent from during the period April-November 2018. The collections amounted to Rs 5.51 lakh crore, official data released on Monday showed.

The net Direct Tax collections represent 48 per cent of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for 2018-19 (Rs. 11.50 lakh crore).

It may be recalled that Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra had recently said that the Centre was confident of meeting the budget estimates for 2018-19.

Meanwhile, the provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to November, 2018 show that gross collections are at Rs 6.75 lakh crore. This is 15.7 per cent higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year.

Refunds amounting to Rs 1.23 lakh crore have been issued during April –November 2018. This is 20.8 per cent higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year.

For the period under review, corporate income tax (CIT) collections rose to 17.7 per cent while that of personal income tax (PIT) saw a growth of 18.3 percent.

After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 18.4 per cent and that in PIT collections is 16.0 per cent.

It may also be recalled that collections of the corresponding period of fiscal 2017-18 also included extraordinary collections under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016 amounting to Rs.10,833 crore (Third and last instalment of IDS). These do not form part of the current year’s collections, an official release said.