Direct tax collection has already crossed Rs 5 lakh crore and will exceed the budgeted target of Rs 11.5 crore set for the current fiscal, CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said Wednesday.

He further said that so far the I-T department has issued refunds to 2.15 crore assessees amounting to Rs 1.15 lakh crore and from now onwards the net collections will increase.

"We have already crossed the Rs 5 lakh crore figure that is 44 per cent of the net direct tax collection target. This is despite the fact there is a surge in refund," Chandra said.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the pavillion of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) at the India International Trade Fair (IITF), Chandra said the number of people voluntarily filing tax returns has gone up substantially, and 6.85 crore income tax returns were filed last year.

This year so far 6.02 crore ITRs have been filed with the Income Tax Department.

The number of direct taxpayers was 3.8 crore when the Modi-led government took office in May 2014.

The CBDT chief said that so far the net growth rate in direct tax collection is 14.5 per cent, while the gross collection grew 16.5 per cent.

"Our asking rate is 14.55 per cent and definitely we will exceed our target Rs 11.5 lakh crore. There is buoyancy. In the second quarter, there has been good profit to India Inc and we saw very good advance tax collection," Chandra said.