Notwithstanding the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, direct tax collection for the first quarter of the current financial year has surpassed the mop-up in the corresponding period of FY19-20.

Income tax data accessed by The Indian Express shows the total direct tax collection for FY 21-22 as on June 14 stood at Rs 1.68 lakh crore up by 66 per cent from Rs 1.01 lakh crore in FY19-20, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic. This number is likely to increase as the advance tax payment will end only by midnight today, said sources.

The collection this year is also 85 per cent higher than the year ago figure of Rs 91,160 crore but the numbers are not comparable because India had imposed the world’s strictest lockdown in April and May 2020. As on June 14, the tax department has achieved about 15 per cent of the total budget estimates of Rs 11.08 lakh crore this financial year.