Figures released yesterday by the Department of Taxation show a 13.7 percent increase in overall tax collections for the first half of fiscal 2006 which ends June 30, compared to the same period last year.

That is on top of a 16 percent increase for fiscal 2005, which took tax collections for that year to $3.99 billion.

Money pouring into the state general fund reached $307.6 million in December, compared to $271 million for the month in 2004.

"What it shows at the end of December is the economy is very strong," said Kurt Kawafuchi, state taxation director.

While Kawafuchi leaves final projections for state revenue to the Council on Revenues in March, he said it's clear that there will be plenty of cash for tax relief. The current projection of the surplus for the end of fiscal 2006 on June 30 is $570 million, but that's based on an 8 percent increase in revenue — much slower than the current pace of growth.

"We believe some of the money should go for taxpayer relief to help all our citizens struggling with the high price of housing, property taxes and gas at nearly three bucks a gallon," Kawafuchi told The Associated Press after releasing the latest data.

He acknowledged there will be a lot of competing needs of the surplus.

"But it's the hard work of the people and businesses that have caused this very strong economy," he said.

For the six-month period, collections were up in all categories compared to the same period a year ago, with the biggest increase in the general excise and use taxes collected since the fiscal year began July 1. The total was $1.13 billion, up 12.6 percent from the same period last fiscal year.

The Council on Revenues last month boosted its projection for fiscal year growth from 6 percent to 8 percent.

Hawaii's economy has grown steadily as record numbers of tourists from the mainland visit the islands and tourism from Asia continues to recover. A hot real estate market, a construction boom and massive upgrades on isle military bases have added a further boost.

Besides the general excise tax, collections for the first half of the fiscal year included a 178 percent increase in corporate taxes, which the Tax Department said was due mainly to an unusually large one-time payment by a corporate taxpayer in September 2005. Kawafuchi said confidentiality laws prevent him from giving details of individual payments.

A similar large payment came in March 2005, which could scale back the comparative increase a bit for this year when all the collections are made, he said.

Income tax collection for the fiscal year so far reached $638 million, up 10.4 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Transient accommodations taxes added to hotel bills grew 9.3 percent to $93 million.