For the first time in recent years the country's direct tax collection has exceeded the revised target for 2003-04 by over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion).

The corporate and income tax mop-up till April 15 stands at Rs 1,04,287 crore (Rs 1,042.87 billion) compared with the revised estimate of Rs 1,03,255 crore (Rs 1,032.55 billion) for 2003-04.

According to revenue department sources, this is unprecedented. Taxes for the previous fiscal continue to trickle in during the first three weeks of the next year.

They pointed out that the revised estimate for total direct taxes was Rs 8,718 crore (Rs 87.18 billion), over 9 per cent higher than the Budget estimate of Rs 95,569 crore (Rs 955.69 billion).

The total collection is Rs 22,220 crore (Rs 222.20 billion), 27.1 per cent higher than the actual direct tax mop-up of 2002-03.

The realisation from corporate tax, at Rs 63,671 crore (Rs 636.71 billion) in 2003-04, is 37.6 per cent higher than what it was in the previous year. Income-tax collection, on the other hand, at Rs 40,616 crore (Rs 406.16 billion), is 13.4 per cent higher than what it was in 2002-03.

The sources said Mumbai continued to top the list of zones that contribute to the tax kitty. The mop-up from Mumbai has been Rs 36,232 crore (Rs 362.32 billion), about 30 per cent more than the Rs 27,968 crore (Rs 279.68 billion) realised in 2002-03.

Delhi is at a distant second with Rs 15,851 crore (Rs 158.51 billion) in 2003-04, about 23 per cent higher than the amount collected in the previous fiscal.

Bangalore continued to contribute more to the direct tax kitty than Chennai and Kolkata. It posted 44.5 per cent growth in collection to Rs 7,825 crore (Rs 78.25 billion) compared with Chennai's Rs 6,308 crore (Rs 63.08 billion) (18.7 per cent) and Kolkata's Rs 4,679 crore (Rs 46.79 billion) (32.3 per cent).