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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026

 

--Govt: Apr-Aug gross tax revenue INR 14.319 tln vs INR 13.440 tln year ago 

--Govt: Apr-Aug state tax devolution INR 5.904 tln vs INR 5.301 tln yr ago 

--Govt: Aug gross tax revenue INR 2.139 tln vs INR 2.511 tln year ago 

 

NEW DELHI – The central government's tax collections fell 14.8% on year in August to INR 2.129 trillion, primarily dragged down by a 37.2% on-year fall in income tax collections during the month. Income tax collections were higher in August 2025 as the deadline for filing income tax returns was extended to Sept. 15 last year, compared to Jul. 31 this year. With this, the government's total tax collections for Apr-Aug were up 6.5% on year, data released by the Controller General of Accounts Wednesday showed.  

 

The government collected INR 14.319 trillion in the first five months of 2026-27 (Apr-Mar), almost 33% of the full year's target of INR 44.041 trillion. 

 

The government collected INR 538 billion as income tax in August, down 37.2% on year, taking the total collection under this head to INR 4.955 trillion for Apr-Aug, up 12.3% on year. Corporate tax collections also dipped, falling 20% on year to INR 246 billion in August, taking the Apr-Aug collections to INR 2.645 trillion, up 15.4% on year. Securities Transaction Tax collections, in the meantime, were up 64.2% on year in August at INR 73.85 billion and up 51.2% in Apr-Aug at INR 338.36 billion. 

 

The government aims to collect INR 26.97 trillion as direct taxes in FY27, up 18.1% from FY26. It aims to collect INR 737 billion from securities transaction tax in FY27. 

 

The fall in gross tax collections in August was also due to a 20.8?ll in excise duty collections during the month and negligible goods and services tax compensation cess collection since it has been discontinued from February. The government's excise duty collections in the first five months of FY27 fell 22.6% on year to INR 867 billion due to the cut in excise duty on fuel from March. 

 

The government's two other main indirect taxes – central GST collections and customs, however, continued to grow steadily in both August and Apr-Aug. Central GST collections grew at a healthy 15.4% in the first five months of FY27 to INR 4.507 trillion. In August alone, it grew 13.1% to INR 892.10 billion. Integrated GST, however, continues to be a drag on overall collections. The government saw IGST outflows of INR 144 billion during Apr-Aug, compared to collections of INR 3.7 billion in the corresponding quarter a year ago. 

 

The government's customs duty collections rose 28.2% in Apr-Aug to INR 1.065 trillion, buoyed by the hike in import duty on precious metals such as gold announced in May. 

 

While the government's gross tax collections were up 6.5% in Apr-Aug, net tax collections for the period rose at a much slower pace of 3.4%. To note, net tax collections in August were negative, as the government's devolution to states more than doubled during the month to INR 2.180 trillion. This means the government devolved more than what it collected during August to states. 

 

The government's net tax collections were INR 8.379 trillion during the first five months. With this, the government has collected almost 30% of the full year's net tax collection target of INR 28.669 trillion. The Centre's devolution to states during Apr-Aug was up 11.4% at INR 5.904 trillion. The 16th Finance Commission has recommended sharing 41% of central taxes with states. Typically, the devolution is released to states in 14 equal instalments. 

 

The Budget has projected total tax collections for FY27 at INR 44.041 trillion, up 8% from last year's revised estimate. The government had missed the revised target for FY26 by INR 534 billion. 

 

According to ICRA Ltd., given the data for the first five months of FY27, gross tax collections must grow 10.9% on year during Sept-Mar, slightly lower than its expectation of nominal GDP growth. "This warrants a 21% growth in income tax collections, albeit on a low base, and a 31% expansion in excise duty collections, both of which are unlikely to materialise, leading to a miss on these accounts," said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA. "However, this would be partly offset by higher-than-budgeted collections on the customs duty front, aided by the duty hikes on gold and silver imports."

 

Details of the central government's tax collections for Apr-Aug and Aug are as follows (in billion INR):

 

	Apr-Aug 2026	Apr-Aug 2025	Year-on-year % change
Corporation Tax	2,645.2	2,292.95	15.4
Income Tax	4,954.54	4,410.13	12.3
Securities Transaction Tax	338.36	223.79	51.2
Other Receipts	-0.02	0.06	--
Central GST	4,507.21	3,905.02	15.4
Union territory GST	24.22	14.87	62.9
Integrated GST	(-)144.1	3.7	--
GST compensation cess	2.43	619.6	(-)99.6
Customs	1,065.16	830.62	28.2
Excise duty	866.87	1,119.27	(-)22.6
Service Tax	(-)4.17	-2.41	--
Other taxes	63.33	22.03	187.5
Total	14,319.03	13,439.63	6.5

 

	Aug-26	Jul-26	Aug-25	Year-on-year % change
Corporation Tax	245.65	331.28	307.06	(-)20.0
Income Tax	538.03	1,362.56	856.98	(-)37.2
Securities Transaction Tax	73.85	75.95	44.97	64.2
Other Receipts	0	0.04	0.01	(-)100.0
Central GST	892.1	905.61	788.77	13.1
Union territory GST	6.16	6.12	3.72	65.6
Integrated GST	(-)79.44	3.87	(-)115.37	--
GST compensation cess	0.32	0.18	116.55	(-)99.7
Customs	228.71	259.04	225.32	1.5
Excise duty	221.56	213.82	279.64	-20.8
Service Tax	(-)0.09	(-)0.33	(-)0.73	--
Other taxes	11.89	12.93	3.61	229.4
Total	2,138.74	3,171.07	2,510.53	(-)14.8

 

End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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