The provisional data for Direct Tax collections till August 10, 2023, reached Rs 6.53 lakh crore increase of 15.73 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the Income Tax department on Friday said. As per the I-T department data, net collections of Direct Tax, after accounting for refunds, stood at Rs 5.84 lakh crore during the same, showing a rise of 17.33 per cent.


The Direct Tax collections till August 10, 2023, now constitute 32.03 per cent of the total Budget Estimates for Direct Taxes for the fiscal year 2023-24.






"Refunds amounting to Rs. 0.69 lakh crore have been issued from April 1, 2023, to August 10, 2023, which are 3.73 per cent higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year," the I-T department said. 


Earlier this month, the income tax department announced that a record 6.77 crore income tax returns were filed for the assessment year 2023-24, with 53.67 lakh first-time taxpayers filing their returns till July 31, 2023. This figure marks a 16.1 per cent increase in ITR compared to the total ITRs filed for the assessment year 2022-23 till the same date(5.83 crore).


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"The e-filing portal also observed its highest per hour rate of 4,96,559 of ITR filings between 5 PM to 6 PM on July 31, 2023, with highest per second rate of ITR filing of 486 (at 16:35:06 hours on that day) and highest per minute rate of ITR filing of 8,622 (at 17:54 hours)", the taxation body also said.


The Budget 2023-24 has set an estimated tax revenue of Rs. 33.6 trillion, representing a rise of 10.4 per cent from the revised estimates of Rs 30.4 trillion for the FY23. In FY23, the government had aimed for a tax revenue target of Rs 27.5 trillion. Within the Budget 2023, the direct tax segment is forecasted at Rs 18.23 trillion, encompassing corporation tax amounting to Rs 9.2 trillion and income tax totaling Rs 9 trillion.