New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the Rs 6.23 lakh-crore indirect taxes collection target for 2014-15 is a challenging one but can be achieved. To achieve this target he pinned hopes on a recovery seen in customs and excise duty receipts in the month of June.
Due to contraction in both excise and customs duty collections, indirect tax receipts had grown only by 4.5 per cent in the April-June period against a targeted 25 per cent annual growth (from last year's actuals), but the trend appears to have changed in the month of June.
Positive growth in excise and customs had helped indirect tax receipts to grow at 13.5% in June. Customs collection had grown at 6% and excise collections 8.1% in June, while service tax collections grew 27.9 per cent in the month.
“In order to spur growth, we have, in the past few months, concentrated on improving areas such as manufacturing and infrastructure,” he said.
The government has taken a series of measures in the last two months to boost the performance of these sectors, he added.
The tax department is attempting to prevent tax evasion and encourage voluntary compliance in its attempt to boost revenue.
