According to provisional data, Direct tax collections continued to record a growth of over 40 per cent for the period 1st April to 15th December 2007.

According to provisional data, net tax collections stood at Rs164,407 crore, up from Rs115,377 crore during the same period last fiscal, registering a growth of 42.50 per cent and achieving over 61 per cent of budgeted direct tax target of Rs267,490 crore.

Corporate tax registered a growth of 42.37 per cent at Rs98,391 crore, up from Rs69,110 crore during the previous fiscal, while personal income tax (including Fringe Benefit Tax, Securities Transaction Tax and Banking Cash Transaction Tax) grew by 42.83 per cent at Rs.65,774 crore, up from Rs46,051 crore.

Growth in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) was 74.36 per cent (Rs.5,895 crore against Rs.3,381 crore) and Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) was 16.10 per cent (Rs.3,313 crore against Rs.2,854 crore). Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) grew by 17.04 per cent (Rs.376 crore against Rs.322 crore).

Overall direct tax growth was highest in the Mumbai region at 68.43 per cent; followed by Pune region at 58.68 per cent, North Western region (Chandigarh) at 47.98 per cent, Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad) at 43.82 per cent and eastern Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) at 39.79 per cent.

Corporate tax growth was highest in the north eastern region (Guwahati) at 244.18 per cent; followed by Kerala (Kochi) at 83.32 per cent, Mumbai at 80.92 per cent, eastern Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) at 71.22 per cent and Pune region at 56.24 per cent.

Personal income tax growth was highest in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh region (Bhopal) at 160.95 per cent; followed by Nagpur region at 97.10 per cent, Pune region at 60.39 per cent, Andhra Pradesh region (Hyderabad) at 54.79 per cent and Tamil Nadu region (Chennai) at 50.90 per cent.