Advance tax kitty rises 20% during Apr-Dec

The advance tax collection from India Inc rose 20 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal compared to the same period last year, with automobiles, consumer goods and metals leading the pack.

Advance tax payments by industries increased to Rs 1.13 lakh crore from Rs 0.94 lakh crore during the corresponding period last fiscal, Finance Ministry sources said.

In the third quarter (October-December), the collections rose by 22.72 per cent to Rs 54,000 crore on substantial increase in advance payments from automobiles, consumer goods and metal firms.

After better advance tax collections compared to last year the government expects the direct tax collections for the current fiscal to well exceed the budget target of Rs 3.7 lakh crore.

Among the major companies, SBI till December during this fiscal paid an advance tax of Rs 4,695 crore, ONGC Rs 3,713 crore, SAIL Rs 2,263 crore, Maruti Udyog Rs 757 crore and Bajaj Auto Rs 540 crore.

The economy during the second quarter of the current fiscal (July-September) expanded by 7.9 per cent beating estimates.

As the good news continues to trickle, the recent Mid-Year Review of the economy tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the growth during 2009-10 could exceed the optimistic projection of 7.75 per cent.