The Centre fell Rs 1,458 crore (Rs 14.58 billion) short of its revised tax collection target of Rs 305,314 crore (Rs 3053.14 billion) for 2004-05, closing the year with a collection of Rs 303,856 crore (Rs 3038.56 billion).

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said revenue targets for the current fiscal, though aggressive, were achievable. There was scope to raise more revenue from personal income tax, he said.

The filing of annual income returns for high-value transactions and the tax information network would help the government ensure better compliance, he added. "There are too many (people) not paying tax they should be paying," the finance minister said.

He said the government would analyse the data from the two initiatives, before taking further steps. The Centre hopes to collect Rs 66,239 crore (Rs 662.39 billion) from the personal income tax this year.

The new system for filing excise returns and fresh provisions in the law would give the Centre better control over excise collections, he added.

While it overshot the target on indirect taxes by collecting Rs 171,131 crore (Rs 1711.31 billion) as against Rs 171,120 crore (Rs 1711.20 billion) in the revised estimates for the year, it fell short of the direct tax target due to a shortfall in personal income tax realisation. The Centre hopes to collect another Rs 807 crore (Rs 8.07 billion) personal income tax, which has been factored in the government's calculations.

Expressing disappointment at the shortfall in personal income tax mop-ups, he said excise collections of Rs 99,352 crore (Rs 993.52 billion) fell short of the original estimates because of duty cuts for petroleum products.