No demonetisation effect on taxes: Jaitely

Finance minister in his address to the press in New Delhi talks about direct tax, excise duty, and petrol pump transaction fee.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley | AP

In an address to the media on Monday, Union finance minister said that the note ban has not hit the taxes.

Briefing the media over the tax collections, Jaitely said the following:

• There has been an overall increase in indirect taxes for the month of April to December 2016 compared to same figures last year is 25%.
• From April to December this year the increase in direct tax is 12.01% and indirect tax is 25 %, compared to last year.
• The finance minister said that the central excise has increased 31.6% in December 2016 as compared to December 2015. In December 2016 compared to last December, the customs has actually declined to 6.3%.
• Compared to November 2016, the growth of Indirect Tax in December 2016 is 12.8%.
• Direct taxes for the first 3 quarters have moved up, indirect taxes significantly moved up.

On petrol pump transaction fee, Jaitely said that the issue is being discussed, the secretary of Department of Economic Affairs has been asked to speak with banks over the same. The petroleum minister is also in touch.