Direct tax fetches Rs 2.78 lakh cr till Feb

The government has collected Rs 2.78 lakh crore from direct taxes till February, short by Rs 1 lakh crore to meet the target set for the fiscal.

The direct tax collections were up 7.52 per cent in the first 11 months against Rs 2.58 lakh crore in the same period last fiscal.

The Finance Ministry officials are confident that direct tax collection target of Rs 3.87 lakh crore, revised from Budget estimate of Rs 3.70 lakh crore, for the current fiscal would be met as taxpayers are likely to give more than a lakh crore in the last month.

The last installment of advance tax payment is also expected by March 15. Corporate taxpayers are required to pay 25 per cent and non-corporate taxpayers 40 per cent of their advance taxes in March.

During February, growth in direct tax collections was 27.54 per cent on a year-to-year basis. The tax collection stood at Rs 14,675 crore against Rs 11,506 crore in February 2009. There had been a negative growth of 19.84 per cent in January.

Corporate tax collections grew by 10.89 per cent to Rs 1.80 lakh crore in April-February compared to Rs 1.62 lakh crore in the 11-month period last year. Personal income tax grew at 1.84 per cent to Rs 97,692 crore during the period.

During February, corporate tax collections recorded a growth of 16.87 per cent, while personal income tax mop up grew 37.58 per cent.