The officials said at this juncture it would be difficult to disturb the existing structure for increasing revenue collection. Currently the focus would be on generating maximum revenue in next five months without disturbing the tax structure.

Moreover, it will not be easy to go for changes immediately as it would require clearance from the Parliament for which, political consensus will be required.

The officials said instead of changes in the structure, the stress will be on ensuring better compliance. "This may be achieved within the existing structure by curbing tax evasion with the help of tightening of machinery," they said.

However, they did not rule out an intense stock taking exercise on the revenue collections in the first six months of 1999-2000.

It may be noted that finance minister Yashwant Sinha in his budget for the current fiscal had already tried to rationalise the duty rates. Any enhancement or alteration in the duty rates at this moment is not expected to yield much, the officials said.

On the direct tax side also, the efforts to widen the tax net is continuing and there is not much scope for altering the rates at present. The officials said steps to remove the grey areas in tax-related policies will continue.

However, the officials said the ground work for the next budget may begin immediately after the new finance minister assumes office. The new government would certainly like to continue the efforts to rationalise and simplify the tax structure and bring in transparency in the whole structure.

The officials said the tax rates will certainly be rationalised further in the next budget. The finance minister would like to make a headway towards completing the government's agenda that taxation should be simple and transparent so that the delays can be avoided, they added.

The total tax collection upto September, 1999, witnessing an increase of 13.34 per cent, has been Rs 68,986.81 crore compared with the total collection of Rs 60,869.17 crore during the same period last year.

Direct tax contribution in the tax kitty during the first six months of 1999-2000 was Rs 18,518.44 crore against Rs 17,631.83 crore upto September, 1998, showing an increase of 5.03 per cent. The budget estimate for direct tax collection in 1999-2000 is Rs 58,760 crore.

Registering an increase of 16.27 per cent, total collection of indirect taxes upto September, 1999, is Rs 50,468.37 crore compared with Rs 43,237.34 crore collected during the same period last year. The budget estimates for the financial year have been placed at Rs 63,565 crore in the case of excise and at Rs 50,369 crore for customs.