FM Confident Of Achieving Tax Target

If P Chidambaram has any one group to thank despite what people perceive it is the taxpayer. Once again it seems that the government kitty is set to swell and the taxman is all set to meet if not overshoot this year''s target.Direct taxes worth over Rs 41,000 crore have been collected between April and June which is 15 per cent of the budget target of 2,67,490 crore. This is despite the fact that tax refunds worth Rs 5000 crore have yet to be given.

''Confident of achieving target, some allowance for refunds but on target,'' said P Chidambaram, Finance Minister.One interesting puzzle for the finance minister remains as to why the pool of taxpayers is not growing sharply while the number of returns being filed continues to grow. For instance number of return filers has jumped by 41 lakh in the last three years but the total number of taxpayers has only gone up by 19 lakh, but the FM is not complaining.Strong revenue numbers is keeping foreign views on India intact despite worries on a tight monetary policy and a strong rupee taking away India''s competitiveness.