FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS

Robust exports and direct tax collections demonstrate a resilient economy going into 2024

- Ashish Sinha

INDIA HAS BEEN A picture of resilience when it comes to its economy. No matter how vicious the headwinds, the engines of the economy keep chugging along. Take, for instance, exports, both of merchandise and services. The country clocked an impressive $499.46 billion in exports during April-November 2023, demonstrating remarkable stability and only a slight dip from the $506.52 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.

Or take the case of direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24. Provisional figures as of December 17, 2023, stand at Rs 13,70,388 crore, which is 20.66 per cent higher compared to Rs 11,35,754 crore collected during the corresponding period of FY2022-23. The net direct tax collection of Rs 13,70,388 crore includes Corporation Tax (CIT) of Rs 6,94,798 crore (net of refund) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Securities Transaction Tax (STT) of Rs 6,72,962 crore (net of refund).

The provisional figure for gross collection of direct taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for FY 2023-24 is equally impressive at Rs 15,95,639 crore. This marks a significant growth of 17 per cent over the collections of FY23. This Rs 15,95,639 crore includes Corporation Tax (CIT) of Rs 7,90,049 crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Securities Transaction Tax (STT) of Rs 8,02,902 crore.