Direct tax collections fell Rs 12,000 crore short of the Rs 3.87 lakh crore target set for 2009-10, largely owing to lower realisation from corporate tax payers.

The collection from corporate income tax and personal income tax, however, was 13.1% up from the 2008-09 level, finance ministry sources said.

In the Budget for 2010-11, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had pegged the revised estimate for direct taxes at Rs 3.87 lakh crore, up from Rs 3.7 lakh crore of the Budget estimate.

Out of the Rs 3.75 lakh crore, the government has mopped up Rs 2.44 lakh crore through corporate income tax, which is lower than the Rs 2.55 lakh crore target for 2009-10. However, even this Rs 2.44 lakh crore represented a 15.4% increase over figures of 2008-09.