Public RelationsAdvance tax collection up 20% in Apr-Dec
The advance tax collection from India Inc rose 20 per cent in the first nine months of the current financial year, compared to the same period last year, with automobiles, consumer goods and metals leading the pack.
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Advance tax payments by industries increased to Rs 1.13 lakh crore from Rs 0.94 lakh crore during the corresponding period last year, 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 companies.
After better advance tax collections compared to last year, the government expects the direct tax collections for the current year to exceed the Budget target of Rs 3.7 lakh crore.
Among the major companies, SBI paid an advance tax of Rs 4,695 crore, ONGC paid Rs 3,713 crore, SAIL Rs 2,263 crore, Maruti Udyog Rs 757 crore and Bajaj Auto Rs 540 crore, till December. The economy during the second quarter of the current financial year (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.
In the personal income-tax segment, the advance tax collections grew only by 4 per cent to Rs 14,200 crore till December 19 this financial year, from Rs 13,600 crore during the corresponding period last year.
The government, in the Budget for 2009-10, had set a target of Rs 3.7 lakh crore as direct tax collection, which was later revised to Rs 4 lakh crore.
SBI paid Rs 1,795 crore as advance tax in the December quarter this year, up 5.59 per cent from Rs 1,700 crore during the same period last year.
However, advance tax collections in the December quarter dipped for private banks like ICICI (down 51.8 per cent at Rs 301 crore), Standard Chartered (down 7.26 per cent at Rs 400 crore) and HSBC Bank (down 56.25 per cent at Rs 175 crore)
Among power companies, in the third quarter, state-owned NTPC has paid Rs 1,078 crore, about 68 per cent more than in the same quarter last year, while Jindal Power paid an advance tax of Rs 150 crore, up 114.29 per cent from last year.
In the consumer goods segment, which has also improved, Hindustan Unilever has paid Rs 200 crore, up 29 per cent, in the December quarter.