NEW DELHI: Don’t expect any respite in the form of excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel anytime soon as the government continues to struggle with its finances. If the 2020-21 tax collection figures are anything to go by, this year (2021-22) will continue to see the government depending on high excise and customs duty collections to tide over a tight fiscal situation.
In 2020-21, even though income tax and corporate tax collections remained muted, high indirect taxes and muted capital expenditure helped the government contain the fiscal deficit to lower than 9.5 per cent. Officials say that the trend will continue this year too, with no major relief in tariffs or any major increase in capital expenditure.
