The government has collected Rs 2,96,200 crore from direct taxes so far this fiscal, prompting the authorities to assert that the target of Rs 3,45,000 crore for 2008-09 will be met.

"Direct tax collection at Rs 2,96,200 crore showed an improvement of 18 per cent year-on-year," a finance ministry official said today.

The data includes 36 per cent growth in corporate tax deducted at source (TDS) and a growth of 17 per cent in non- corporate TDS.

"I am pretty confident that revised tax collection target of Rs 3,45,000 crore would be achieved for this fiscal. There is no reason for me today to think that we will not achieve the target," the official said.

There is, however, still a gap of around Rs 49,000 crore to meet the revised target.

Of this, about Rs 15,000-20,000 crore more is expected to come from advance taxes, the official said.

The revised target for direct tax collection was lowered by Rs 20,000 crore from the budget estimate of Rs 3,65,000 crore for the current fiscal year.