Direct tax mop-up may fall short of Rs 50,000 cr in FY'19, says finance ministry official

New Delhi: The government is estimated to have witnessed a shortfall of Rs 50,000 crore in direct tax collection target of Rs 12 lakh crore for 2018-19, a senior finance ministry official said on Tuesday. The shortfall in direct tax mop-up coupled with lower GST realisation may have implications on fiscal deficit, which the government has pegged at 3.4 per cent of the GDP. [caption id="attachment_6013191" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. Reuters.[/caption]"Direct tax collection for 2018-19 is around Rs 11.5 lakh crore...," the official said. The government had revised the direct tax collection target upwards to Rs 12 lakh crore from the original Budget Estimate of Rs 11.5 lakh crore for 2018-19. It was expecting higher collections from corporate taxes. The revision was made during the interim Budget for 2019-20 in February. The target for GST collection was revised downwards to Rs 6.44 lakh crore from the Budget Estimate of Rs 7.44 lakh crore. The GST mop-up is also estimated to have missed the revised target. The GST Council had reduced tax rates on several items during 2018-19.