Out of Rs 8000  crore total tax revenue culled so far, the growth has been AT-pushed. Against Rs 3000 crore VAT earnings in the last fiscal, the current fiscal expects to wrap up Rs 4500 crore with an unprecedented 50% growth, thanks to the VAT lucky coupon to incentivise consumer to demand bill from shop-keeper. The tax-collector's performance, however, has deprived the State of the Centre's compensation for switchover to VAT mode. Last year, Kerala was able to claim Rs 1500 crore from the Centre as compensation component.

"No regrets, in any case," says Thomas Isaac, affirming that a better tax realization performance in the 2007-2008 fiscal could negate the need for compensation.

The lucky VAT scheme in the State was drawn up as an Indian version of Venuzulas tax lottery scheme, to improve VAT compliance among traders.

The rest of the tax revenue the non-VAT component failed to show its potential buoyancy. From Rs 70 crore last year, gold compounding  rates have fetched Rs 100 crore this fiscal. Although liquor sales was more buoyant than ever in Kerala, its tax rates had not been tinkered with. As cooking gas was moved to the declared list the rate had fallen by 4 %.

"Even the higher consumption of the petroleum products would not register in the State's petro-tax income in the current year, because of the stock transfer dynamics of KRL-BPCL merger," the finance minister said. "But this would be manifest in the next fiscal's performance.

Kerala, at the same time, sticks to its guns that performing States are being forced to run a handicapped race for the Central fund support in various counters.

For example, the State was counting on raising Rs 3000 crore resources through tapping the small savings fund fountain, given the prolification of small savings investors in Kerala. "But the Centre has cut short the year's small savings limit to Rs 1800 crore," the minister said.

The State's ways and means position is at its worst. A Rs 1600-crore salary-hike burden (for fovernment employees) had to be packed in, without corresponding rise in revenue side.

The predicament is so bad that treasury crisis in the Kerala government has stopped getting into headlines.