UPDATE 1-Argentina Nov tax take up 20.5 pct, beats estimates

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Argentina's November tax take rose a higher-than-expected 20.5 percent from a year earlier, President Cristina Fernandez said on Thursday.

That percentage increase brings last month's revenue to roughly 26.08 billion pesos ($6.8 billion), according to Reuters estimates.

The median forecast in a Reuters poll was for a tax take increase of 19 percent, or 25.8 billion pesos.

The government is expected to release a detailed revenue report on Thursday.

Fernandez said the improvement in tax revenue is a result of recent government measures to jumpstart the economy after a slowdown earlier in the year.

'The economic measures are beginning to work and some sectors, such as the auto industry, are already showing clear signs of a rebound,' Fernandez said at a speech.

State tax receipts totaled 26.42 billion pesos in October. The tax take hit a record of 27.29 billion pesos in May.

Argentina's tax revenue is tracked by economists as a gauge of the country's ability to repay debt.

(Reporting by Vivianne Rodrigues; Editing by Andrew Hay) Keywords: ECONOMY ARGENTINA/TAX ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.