It is hoped that the finance ministry will be manage to mop up Rs 3000 crore by way of taxes under the KVSS which would close on January 31. The scheme which was to end on December 31 last was granted one month extension.

Till January 15, the finance ministry spokesman said that as many as 50,000 declarations were received under the scheme of which 36,000 were on direct taxes and 14,000 indirect taxes.

The tax arrears on these declarations totalled Rs 4,200 crore of which Rs 2,400 was on direct tax and Rs 1800 crore indirect tax. The realisable tax on these declarations worked out to be approximately Rs 1,700 crore.

Meanwhile, Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman Ravi Kant said the direct tax collections were up by 15 per cent during April-December 1998 as compared to the corresponding period last year, indicating a buoyancy.

This, he added, was marginally higher thanthe internal targets set for the nine month period.

The CBDT chief, however, refused to hazard a guess whether they would be able to surpass the direct tax collection target. When asked if 20 per cent increase in direct tax collections targeted for this financial year would be exceeded in the face of the buoyancy, he said he could not say anything at this stage.