Advance tax mop-up grows a tad

Corporate advance tax has registered a flat growth in the third quarter of FY13, compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, reflecting the slowdown in economic activity affecting profitability.

Among the companies that have paid advance tax so far, the highest tax payer has been State Bank of India (SBI), which paid Rs 1,701 crore for the current quarter, though it is slightly lower than Rs 1,730 crore it paid during the same period last year. Reliance Industries (RIL) paid Rs 1,100 crore in taxes, compared to Rs 1,000 crore last year.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, taxes paid by large business houses such as the SBI and RIL fell, while that of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and UltraTech rose.

 

In the second quarter of FY13, SBI had paid Rs 1,820 crore, RIL Rs 1,530 crore, and M&M and UltraTech Rs 200 crore each.

Among public sector banks, the Central Bank of India paid Rs 120 crore in the current quarter against last year’s Rs 104 crore, while Bank of Baroda’s tax outgo stood at Rs 550 crore. Kolkata-based UCO Bank paid taxes worth Rs 98 crore. Bank of India paid Rs 120 crore, compared to Rs 125 crore last year.

Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) paid taxes worth Rs 560 crore. The housing finance provider’s tax outflow was higher by 17.8 per cent compared to last year.

LIC Housing Finance paid Rs 113 crore, compared to Rs 91 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Among others, M&M paid Rs 295 crore this quarter, up from last year’s Rs 207 crore. UltraTech, the cement major under the Aditya Birla Group, paid lower taxes at Rs 250 crore, compared to Rs 320 crore last year.

Bajaj Auto’s tax outflow was up at Rs 510 crore, compared to Rs 450 crore in the December quarter last year.

TCS, India’s largest software exporter, witnessed a 17 per cent jump in its advance tax payment at Rs 620 crore, while Coal India paid Rs 75 crore.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro paid Rs 333 crore this quarter against Rs 350 crore last year.

According to a top income tax (I-T) official, oil refining and retailing companies are not expected to pay this quarter.

The I-T department’s target for Mumbai circle is pegged at Rs 1.78 lakh crore this fiscal, a rise of 13.5 per cent from last year.

The direct tax collection target for FY13 is Rs 5.7 lakh crore, an increase of about 25 per cent over the actual collections in the last financial year.

Advance tax is paid by companies in four instalments (in June, September, December and March) based on an assessment of their profits during the respective quarter. Advance tax outflows is likely to have drained about Rs 50,000 crore-60,000 crore liquidity from the system.