Aided by healthy economic growth, the net  direct tax collection went up to Rs 3.17 lakh crore for the first 10 months of this fiscal between April 2010 and January 2011, registering a growth of more than 20%. The collection during the same period last year was Rs 2.64 lakh crore.

The high growth has been possible due to rise in corporate income. Growth in corporate I-T was 25% at Rs 2,16,872 crore against Rs 1,73,799 crore in the same period last year. The personal I-T, including securities transaction tax and residual fringe benefit tax and banking cash transaction tax grew at 12%, to Rs 1 lakh crore as against Rs 90,000 crore last year.

Meanwhile, chairman Central Board of Direct Taxes has issued instructions to all chief commissioners to ensure that all refunds below Rs 10 lakh are transferred in the bank accounts of assesses by March 2011.

He has asked the department to upload necessary data so that the refunds can be issued expeditiously.

It will be for the first time that most income tax refunds of the current assessment year will be dispatched to the taxpayers within the current financial year itself.

The tax refunds stood at Rs 53,688 crore against Rs 38,721 crore last year, registering a growth of 39%. The centralized processing centre at Bangalore had completed processing of all e-filed tax returns for 2010-11. All taxpayers who have filed e-returns and whose refund claim is below Rs 10 lakh would be issued their refunds by March 2011.