The union finance ministry has revealed that Indian government has till 5th August provided tax refunds to the tune of INR 14,332 crore. In a press release issued by the ministry, it was revealed that these refunds have been provided by Central Processing Centre (CPC) that is stationed in Bengaluru.
There have been around 54.35 lakh cases of refunds. The figure is also inclusive of 20.81 lakh instances of refunds with the amounts totalling INR 2,922 crore. In all, taxes worth INR 14.54 lakh crore have been collected in 2015-16 fiscal as opposed to INR 12.39 lakh crore a year back.
According to the ministry till 5th August this year almost 75 lakh taxpayers have used the e-verification facility for filing their income tax returns. Compared to this, till 7th September 2015, 33 lakh taxpayers had used this facility.
e-Verification on the basis of Aadhar
The same press release has also stated that as opposed to the same period in the previous year when 10.41 lakh tax payers used the e-verification facility on the basis of their Aadhar cards the number this year went up to 17.68 lakh. 3.32 lakh people have also signed their returns digitally. This means that 35% of the taxpayers have taken up this facility. There has also been an increase in the number of e-returns in 2016-17 when compared on a year-on-year basis. The number has gone up to 226.98 lakh from 70.97 lakh.
Encouragement from revenue department
The revenue department is supposed to encourage more taxpayers, who have already turned in their income tax returns, to use the e-verification facility. They want it to be used as a more convenient alternative for sending across their ITR-V forms to CPC. The figures also state that 94% of the income tax returns this year have been filed online. The percentage was greater in the previous financial year. CPC had also processed 4.14 crore returns this year.
Income tax refunds in previous years
In the 2015-16 fiscal at least 2.10 crore tax refunds were provided with the amount adding up to INR 122,425 crore. In 2014-15 this amounted to INR 112,188 crore and in 2013-14 this amounted to 89,664 crore.
Using technology
Nowadays, both Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and Central Board of Director Taxes (CBDT) are using technology in an optimum way so that the processes of refunds and assessment can be completed in a short span of time. It is also using technology to look at issues connected to facilitating trade and clearing customs.
Indirect tax collection
In 2015-16 indirect taxes amounted to 5.17% of the GDP as opposed to 4.36% for 2014-15. The union finance ministry has also stated that in 2016-17 this ratio would go up to 5.20% of the GDP. In 2015-16 indirect taxes worth INR 7.12 lakh crore were collected as opposed to INR 5.43 lakh crore in 2014-15.
The government has also made provisions for electronically paying refunds and rebates of service and central excise taxes. This is being done through avenues such as NEFT and RTEGS. As a result of this service exporters are receiving 80% of their refunds within 5 days.
SWIFT
SWIFT or Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade operates as a single point interface in more than 50 offices belonging to 6 governmental agencies. It helps in speedy clearance of EXIM goods and brings down expenses as well as necessary documentation. According to the finance ministry of India this has helped more than 97% of the country’s imports.
