Direct tax kitty grows nearly 4 pct

Direct tax collections grew by 3.92 per cent to Rs 1,73,447 crore for the first seven months of current fiscal, around Rs 2 lakh crore short of the target for the mop-up this financial year.

The net direct tax collections for the period are lower due to higher tax refunds given by the government which grew by about about 64 per cent to Rs 33,137 crore compared to last year, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement on Thursday.

Corporate tax collections grew by 4.59 per cent to Rs 1,09,996 crore in April-October. In the personal income tax segment, the mop-up was up by only 2.87 per cent at Rs 63,195 crore in the period.

The government in the Budget for 2009-10 has set a target of Rs 3.7 lakh crore as direct tax collection, which was later revised to Rs 4 lakh crore.

The tax collections were marginally better at Rs 20,822 crore in October than Rs 19,808 crore in the same month last year, CBDT said.

Net collections continued to be positive at Rs 20,822 crore in October compared to Rs 19,708 crore during the same month last year.

Personal income tax growth was 16.1 per cent at Rs 11,398 crore in October.