More trouble for economy, direct tax collection in negative zone: Report

'The bad run for the Indian economy continues with the latest victim being the government's direct tax kitty, where collections have now entered the negative zone for the very first time. Government sources said that direct tax collection in the current fiscal up to 15 January has fallen by 6.1% compared with the corresponding period of previous year. While the development would test the government's ability to manage its finances and contain the deficit, it has the potential to virtually seal the fate of any big tax cut announcement in the coming Union Budget...'