38 pc growth in direct tax collection for 2007-08

NEW DELHI: The government has collected over Rs 3,09,000 crore and expects to garner Rs 3,000 crore more in direct taxes for 2007-08.

The direct tax collection at Rs 3,09,000 crore is a growth of 38 per cent over the previous fiscal, Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman P K Misra told reporters on the sidelines of Assocham seminar here.

It also exceeds the government's revised target of Rs 3,04,000 crore for 2007-08.

Corporate income tax contributed Rs 1,89,000 crore, posting a growth of over 33 per cent compared to Rs 1,31,000 crore in the previous year.

The share of personal income tax is Rs 1,10,000 crore, up 44 per cent over Rs 76,000 crore in 2006-07.

The stock markets gave Rs 8,577 crore to the government kitty in the form of Securities Transaction Tax, 81 per cent higher over the previous year's figure.

Banking Cash Transaction tax contributed Rs 582 crore. Misra also sounded confident of meeting the direct tax collection target of Rs 3.65 lakh crore for 2008-09. He said there is better compliance as more and more people are coming under tax net.

"We will comfortably reach 2008 target despite cut in direct taxes," he said.