India's net direct tax collections in the first two months of April and May of the current fiscal year grew 71.28% and stood at Rs.22, 840 crores up from Rs.13, 335 crores in the same period of previous fiscal, showed government data released by the Ministry of Finance.

Direct Tax collections have been witnessing high growth rate due to better tax compliance by the taxpayers and improved tax administration. The cost of collection has declined to an all-time low of 0.54% during the fiscal year 2008, among the lowest in the world.

The collection of corporate taxes grew 68.05% to Rs.8, 126 crores in the two months compared to Rs.4,835 crores in the same period last year. Personal Income Tax grew 73.05% to Rs.14, 690 crores from Rs.8, 489 crores in the corresponding period of previous year. Tax deducted /collected at source continued to grow at 51% as it was in April-May in 2007, said the report.

The release said that the growth in direct taxes has been achieved in spite of larger refund payouts at Rs.9, 014 crores in the first two months compared to Rs.5, 037 crores in the same period of last year. Though there was shortage of manpower, refunds were issued to 48-lakh taxpayers compared to 44.5 lakh refunds in the previous fiscal.