The direct tax collections as of the second week of January for 2009-10 have touched Rs 11,203 crore. This is a growth of 13.3 per cent as compared to the same period last year, according to the income tax department in Pune.

The department has also said that the trend of growth is up from 1.8 per cent in the first two quarters to 9.9 per cent now. The net collections also registered a growth of 9.9 per cent and stood at Rs 10213 crore, up by Rs 920 crore over last year.

This is well above the national growth at 7 per cent. The annual revenue collection target of Rs 14,640 crore is set to be achieved this year, said a spokesperson.

The I-T department has also said the corporate tax collections for the third quarter has also increased by 22 percent even as the personal income tax collections has registered a growth of only 2.3 per cent. The department has said that the reasons for this low growth in the personal Income tax collections are being monitored.

Meanwhile, according to the department, the Refund Banker Scheme, which has been operational in Pune from last October, has reduced grievances of taxpayers. Under this scheme, the refund is automatically generated after the income tax is processed and either the money is transferred directly to the bank account or a cheque is posted to the taxpayer.

Up to mid- January this year, refunds amounting to Rs 989 crore have already been issued. This is an increase of 68 per cent from last year. In actual terms, the figure is up by Rs 400 crore. So far, 1373,661 returns have been processed till December 2009, including 349,000 returns claiming refunds, the department said.