Bharti, Maruti, SAIL pay lower advance tax

Top corporates and banks, including Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and State Bank of India (SBI), have paid lower advance taxes during the July-September quarter reflecting the impact of slowdown.

The other large companies which have paid lower taxes during the second quarter include Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), National Aluminium Company, Hyundai Motors, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and Bosch. ICICI Bank paid the same amount as last year.

However, on account of increased advance tax payment by certain companies such as ONGC, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel, the overall collection from top 100 corporates during the July-September quarter was up by 9.86% as compared to corresponding period last fiscal.

The increase in advance tax realisation during April-September works out to be 12.02%, according to the data on top-100 companies tabulated by the I-T Department.

The data reveals a sharp decline in payment of advance taxes by state-owned petroleum companies which are hit by rising prices of crude in the international market.

While IOC paid no advance tax during the quarter as against Rs 351 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal, payment by BPCL declined by 83% to Rs 35 crore during the period.

The slowdown was also witnessed in the auto sector, with Maruti Suzuki paying Rs 120 crore during the second quarter, down 55.88% over last year's. Similarly, advance tax payment by Hyundai declined by 13.52% to Rs 81 crore. Tata Motors showed no increase in payment of advance tax during the second quarter.