Cause or effect, that is the question.

"Data from the Controller General of Accounts indicate that FY22 (1 April 2021-31 March 2022) tax collections are on track to beat not just the pandemic-struck FY21's but also FY20's, a regular growth year," wrote TV Mohandas Pai and Nisha Holla. "Actual GTR (gross tax revenue) collections in FY22 (2021-22) is Rs 13.64 lakh crore (Rs 13.64 trillion), compared to Rs 8.76 lakh crore in FY21 and Rs 10.52 lakh crore in FY20 in the same period." Corporation tax collection is Rs 3.3 trillion between April-October and could reach Rs 6.15 trillion, that is Rs 683.30 billion higher than budget estimate in this financial year. This despite the fact that, according to the National Restaurant Association of India around 25% of restaurants may have shut down permanently with the loss of 230,000 jobs, wrote Vivek Kaul. Many businesses in the informal sector are shutting down. Income tax collections from April-October are Rs 3.11 trillion and can be Rs 164.00 billion higher than budget estimate. The Finance Ministry revealed that over 30 million people have filed income tax returns for 2020-21 and over 400,000 are filing everyday, ET. That means another 8-10 million till the last date of 31 December. If only 40 million people are filing tax returns for last year, there must have been an explosion of high paying jobs this year for tax collections to jump. Goods and Services Tax (GST) may reach Rs 6.5 trillion. "Gross GST revenue collected in November came in at Rs 1,31,526 crore (Rs 1.32 trillion), more than Rs 1.30 trillion in October, ET. "The central government's mop-up from excise duty levied on petrol and diesel more than doubled to Rs 3.72 lakh crore (Rs 3.72 trillion) in the pandemic year 2020-21, out of which states were given less than Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion), according to a reply by the government in the Rajya Sabha," TOI. The Reserve Bank (RBI) has transferred Rs 991.22 billion for 9 months till 31 March from its surplus to the government, BS, much higher than the Budget Estimate of Rs 535 billion. GST and excise duties add to prices for the consumer. Naturally, a survey by the RBI found, "Households' median inflation perceptions for November 2021 increased by 20 basis points (0.20%), reaching 10.4 percent, while three months and one year ahead median inflation expectations increased by 150 to 170 basis points, respectively, from the previous survey round," ET. Consumer confidence as measured by "The current situation index (CSI) increased to 62.3 in November 2021 from 57.7 in the previous survey round," ET. Below 100 indicates negative sentiment. The RBI published 2 papers in September. The first paper shows that growth of bank credit to industries has declined from 19.6% annually in 2007-2014 to 1.6% annually in 2014-2021, wrote Rajrishi Singhal. The second paper shows "a sharp fall in new private-sector projects being taken up every year and a sharper fall in the number of projects getting completed each year". Because demand is weak. How is the government collecting more tax when consumers are spending less? Because of higher prices. As a result the rupee fell to 75.68 against the US dollar on 10 December, Hans India. Which means higher import prices. Tax or growth. Choose.