In its Thursday statement, India's Finance Ministry said that the country's net direct tax receipts climbed 8.33 percent to reach Rs 3.38 lakh crore in 2008-09, as compared to the 2007-87 fiscal figures of Rs 3.12 lakh crore.

The Ministry noted: "Despite economic slow-down and substantial relief to non-corporate taxpayers, direct tax collections exceeded the previous year's collection by about Rs 26,000 crore."

However, with corporate earnings suffering a blow at the hands of slackening economy, the figures still missed the government's collection target of Rs 3.45 lakh crore by Rs 6,000 crore!

The statement said that even the Rs 3.45 lakh crore-collection target was a downward revision from Rs 3.64 lakh crore, to make an allowance for the `knock' the economic crisis could was likely to deliver on its revenues.

Nonetheless, the ministry also added that both corporate tax collections as well as individual income tax receipts showed an increase last fiscal - while the former increased 10.8 percent to reach Rs 2.14 lakh crore; the latter jumped 9.1 percent to Rs 1.24 lakh crore. Moreover, corporate tax deducted at source also reported a 35.4 percent increase to Rs 61,683 crore, as against the earlier fiscal figures of Rs 45,450 crore.