Net direct tax collection has increased by 6.6 percent till 15th September this fiscal compared to the corresponding period last fiscal. According to the official data released by the Finance Ministry, the net direct taxes stood at 1.80 lakh crore rupees as against 1.68 lakh crore rupees a year earlier. The Gross tax collection in the same period increased by 24 percent. The refunds during this period have more than doubled to 62,000 crore rupees. Net direct taxes are calculated by deducting refunds from the gross tax. The increase in net direct taxes is good news for the Indian economy as during the first five months of this fiscal, the net direct tax collections had declined owing to huge refunds claim.The growth in the net direct taxes is driven by 19 percent increase in the advance tax collections. The Advance tax collection for the second quarter during this fiscal have increased to over one lakh crore rupees as against 85,000 crore rupees last year. While the Corporate advance tax collections grew by 18 percent, the personal advance tax collections have increased by 29 percent. Companies and individuals have to pay advance tax for the second quarter by 15 September.AIR Correspondent reports that the Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had set a direct tax collection target of 5.32 lakh crore rupees for the current fiscal in the Union budget, which was later revised upwards by 10% to 5.85 lakh crore rupees.