The Gujarat Income Tax circle, comprising four divisions — Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat — has registered a growth, 27 per cent its collections for financial year 2007-08 compared to the year before that. Moreover, the region has outstripped other metro centres like Kolkata and Chennai in tax collection.

However, the circle failed to meet the annual target of Rs 15,713 crores, with a collection of Rs 11,649 crores. I-T officials cite reasons such as stock market crash as well as merger of IPCL into Reliance Industries for being unable to meet the target. “The merger of IPCL into Reliance Industries resulted into Rs 828 crores tax of IPLC going to Maharashtra this year,” said a top I-T official.

In 2007-08, Vadodara division has failed to surpass the collection as compared with the corresponding period 2006-07. Vadodara division collected Rs 2,712 crores, as against Rs 2,773 crores in 2006-07.

The recession in the diamond industry of Surat and the adjoining areas have hit the I-T collection in Surat division. “The increasing prices of rough diamond and the rupee appreciation against dollar has hit the diamond export business, and our collections in turn,” said the official.

Officials said that the meltdown in stock markets also affected the collections in the later half of the financial year.

“Our collection till October was 72.8 percent. However, in the later half of the financial year our collections declined up to 35.6 percent,” they said.

The officials have disclosed that the department is conducting surveys in major towns to assess the potential of income tax collection.

The I-T officials have prepared a data base of coaching institutes, private nursing homes and clinics.