Total corporate tax collection in stood at Rs 7, 20,441.9 crore in FY2021-22 till March 31, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the parliament today. This was an increase from FY2018-19, FY2019-20 and FY2021-22 respectively.
Responding to a question on the effect of corporate tax cuts, she said that these numbers are indicative of the positive impact of corporate tax reduction is visible and inspite of reduced tax rate and COVID-19 pandemic, corporate tax collection is higher this year.
She also noted, "The said reduction was introduced in order to attract fresh investments, create jobs and stimulate the overall economy.”
“It was envisaged that the reduction in corporate tax rates will leave more surplus in the hands of the corporates which could either be reinvested for expansion of existing units, setting up of new units, distributed as dividends leading to creation of jobs, new wage earners, and more income in the hands of the shareholder resulting in higher overall income levels," Sitharaman also mentioned.
She also mentioned that the data regarding the number of new manufacturing industries that have come up after September 2019, when corporate tax was cut down from 25 per cent to 15 per cent, is not maintained. Sitharaman also underscored that there is no proposal whatsoever to increase tax on the most profitable corporations and high net-worth individuals.