Govt exceeds FY26 indirect tax collection estimates

The government has marginally exceeded the indirect tax collection target for fiscal 2025-26, an official said on Thursday.The total indirect tax collection, which includes customs, excise and GST, as per Revised Estimates (RE) was pegged at over INR 15.52 lakh crore for FY26. This includes INR 2.58 lakh crore from customs duty, INR 3.38 lakh crore from excise duty, and INR 9.58 lakh crore from Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST).

Without giving actual figures, the official said that revenues from customs duty came in at 102 per cent of RE, while in case of excise duty it was 101 per cent of RE. The Central GST collection came in at 100.8 per cent of RE for FY26.“Overall, GST plus non-GST collection came in at 101.2 per cent of RE,” the official said.

However, the collection from health and national security cess, which is levied on pan masala manufacturing has missed the target.

The RE had pegged INR 2,330 crore from the health and national security cess collection in FY26. However, the actual collections for FY26 came in lower at 63 per cent of RE.

The RE had pegged collections from the health and national security cess at INR 2,330 crore for FY26. However, actual collections fell short, reaching only 63 per cent of the RE.Under the Health and National Security Cess Act, a cess is levied on the manufacturing capacity of pan masala units effective February 1, 2026 The cess is levied over and above the highest 40 per centGST rate.The official said that the collections from the cess is expected to improve in the current fiscal as the levy settles in. The current fiscal, the government has budgeted to collect INR 14,000 crore from the cess.