Japan's tax revenues are likely to have met the government's target in fiscal 1999 for the first time in three years, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

Tax receipts are expected to have totaled 46 trillion yen for the year that ended March 31, against the 45.678 trillion yen targeted by the government after the compilation of two supplementary budgets for fiscal 1999.

The Finance Ministry on Thursday released tax revenue data for April. Combined tax receipts for fiscal 1999 will be finalized in July, when the ministry releases tax revenue data for May.

Tax payments by corporations that close their books in March are to be added when the ministry announces tax receipts for April and May.

Tax revenues hit an all-time high of 60.11 trillion yen in fiscal 1990 but have since declined due to the collapse of the asset-inflated economic bubble.

Receipts undershot government goals in fiscal 1997 and 1998, with those for fiscal 1998 slipping below the 50 trillion yen mark for the first time in 11 years.

For April alone, Japan's tax receipts declined 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 3.942 trillion yen, despite a third consecutive month of year-on-year growth in revenue from corporate tax.

Corporate tax revenue totaled 439.76 billion yen, up 5.8 percent, reflecting improved corporate earnings stemming from restructuring.

Revenue from income tax fell 10.1 percent to 2.318 trillion yen, with revenue from income tax withheld from paychecks down 14.1 percent to 914.53 billion yen and that from declared income tax down 7.3 percent to 1.404 trillion yen.

Consumption tax revenue slumped 5.4 percent to 668.3 billion yen, whereas inheritance-tax revenue nosedived 18.7 percent to 73.4 billion yen.