FM Arun Jaitley says indirect taxes soared 25% from April to December, 2016

Addressing the media today Finance Minister Arun Jaitley provided the latest statistics about the state of the Indian economy. Indicating a robust gain in the indirect tax collections, FM Jaitley said, "From April to December, this year the increase in direct taxes is 12.01% and indirect tax is 25 %, compared to last year." Speaking to reporters, Jaitley informed that the increase in direct tax from the month of April to December has been 12.1% while the indirect tax has increased by 25% as compared to last year. Jaitley further said that the Central Excise had increased by 31.6% in December 2016 as compared to last year during the same time.

Jaitley also clarified that compared to December 2015, this year the customs had actually declined and remain at -6.3%. The growth of Indirect Tax in December 2016, as compared to November 2016 had been 12.8%, he added. Jaitley further said that the direct taxes for the first 3 quarters had moved up, while the indirect taxes had moved up by a large margin. State VAT collections had also increased, informed the Finance Minister.

Jaitley said that the Finance Ministry was discussing the issue and had asked the Secretary Department of Economic Affairs Secretary to discuss the matter with banks. The Petroleum Minister was also in touch with the ministry, he added. Speaking about demonetisation, the Finance Minister said that the country's indirect tax receipts had grown by 14.2% annually in December. The FM further added that such robust figures revealed that the government's controversial demonetisation drive had little impact on the economy.