The direct tax collection for the current fiscal is likely to fall short of the Budget Estimate by around Rs 20,000 crore, a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official told The Indian Express.

The shortfall is imminent because the economy’s outlook has worsened and the first indications are visible in the dismal performance of the advance tax collection in the third quarter of 2011-12. By the end of the third quarter, corporates would have paid 75 per cent of the full year’s advance tax.

In the third quarter, when India Inc pays 30 per cent of their estimated total tax liability, collections from the top 100 companies actually declined 1.4 per cent compared with the advance tax mop-up in the previous year.

Advance tax collection from the country’s top 100 companies stood at Rs 30,763 crore in the third quarter this year as against Rs 31,203 crore paid in the same period last year. (Indian Express)