Direct Tax Collection 2026: Net Revenue Rises 13.2% to ₹13.38 Lakh Crore

As per the provisional numbers shared by the Income Tax Department, India’s direct tax net collections were up by 13.21% YoY to ₹13.38 lakh crore as on 14 October 2026. In terms of gross numbers, there was an increase of 14.89% to ₹16.03 lakh crore owing to robust corporate tax collections and STT collections. The number of refunds is also high and impacted the net collections of personal income taxes.

Collection of India’s Direct Taxes: Important Numbers

Direct taxes refer to those taxes that are collected directly from individuals and organizations by the government. Here are some recent numbers indicating growth in the collections of both gross and net taxes, with contributions from corporate tax and securities transaction tax (STT).

Indicator	Collections up to 14th October 2026	Annual Growth
Gross direct tax collections	₹16.03 lakh crore	14.89%
Net direct tax collections	₹13.38 lakh crore	13.21%
Total tax refunds	₹2.65 lakh crore	24.22%
Gross corporate tax	₹7.53 lakh crore	17.0%
Net corporate tax	₹5.99 lakh crore	20.6%
Gross non-corporate tax	₹8.03 lakh crore	11.5%
Net non-corporate tax	₹6.92 lakh crore	5.8%
Securities Transaction Tax	₹46,840 crore	51.6%

What Are Direct Taxes?

Direct taxes are levied directly on the incomes, profits, or certain financial transactions made by individuals or businesses. It is levied on the taxpayer, unlike several indirect taxes which are levied on someone but the economic incidence could be shifted through prices.

Important elements of direct taxes in India are, Corporate Tax: It is levied on the income or profit of companies.

Personal Income Tax: It is levied on the income of individual taxpayers and other taxpayers that do not include corporations.
-Securities Transaction Tax (STT): It is levied on certain financial transactions which have been done through the recognized stock exchanges or other financial transactions as per the law.

Direct tax revenues are an important source of revenue for the Government of India.

Corporate Tax Collection Fuels Revenue Growth

Corporate tax collection saw better performance in comparison with the collection of non-corporate tax.

The gross collection from corporate taxes was higher by 17% year on year and reached ₹7.53 lakh crore, while net collection grew by 20.6% and stood at ₹5.99 lakh crore.

The net growth in corporate tax revenue implies that corporate tax collection was quite good during the period. But the numbers related to corporate tax collection alone cannot give any explanation for the factors behind growth, which may be related to company profits and advance tax payment.

Non-Corporate Tax Collection Slows Down Due to High Refund

The growth of the net collection in non-corporate direct taxes, mainly consisting of personal income tax, is considerably lower.

The gross collection of non-corporate taxes grew by 11.5% and amounted to ₹8.03 lakh crore. The net collection grew only by 5.8% to ₹6.92 lakh crore.

The refunds in this category increased 67.2% to ₹1.11 lakh crore against ₹66,550 crore a year ago.

The high increase in the refund volume lowered the growth rate of net revenue compared with gross collection. High refund volumes may be explained by the processing of claims of taxpayers.

Securities Transactions Tax Revenue Grew by 51.6%

Securities Transactions Tax (STT) grew at the fastest pace among the significant components mentioned in the report.

Growth in STT collection to ₹46,840 crore was reported till 14 October 2026, as compared to ₹30,902 crore during the same period in the previous year.

This growth is because of the activities in the market and increased STT rates on certain derivatives transaction which began to be levied from 1 April 2026.

STT is collected on transactions of the eligible securities. STT is different from capital gain tax which is collected on profit from the disposal or transfer of capital assets according to the law.

Direct Tax Collections Target for FY2026-27

₹26.97 lakh crore is the budgeted amount of direct tax collections for FY2026-27.

Collection of ₹13.38 lakh crore till 14 October was approximately 49.6% of the annual target.

In FY2025-26, the total net direct tax collections were ₹23.40 lakh crore while the revised budgeted amount for the fiscal was ₹24.21 lakh crore.

It depends upon the performance of collections and refund during the rest of the month.