For the reporting quarter, the top 100 firms’ advance tax payments were up more than 30 per cent a senior official in the Finance Ministry said, adding that this reflects the growth in profit, which in turn, indicates the recovery in the economy.
Corporate advance tax had declined by 3.7 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal (April to June, 2009). However, it grew by 14.7 per cent in the second quarter (July to September, 2009) due to a strong recovery in segments like banking, auto, and consumer durable sectors.

The surge in Corporate advance tax in the third quarter is primarily due to higher contributions from firms dealing with banking, consumer durables and oil and gas. The top ten firms who paid maximum advance Corporate Tax are State Bank of India, ONGC, LIC, Reliance Industries Limited, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), NTPC, Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), BHEL, ITC and Punjab National Bank.

Growth rate
During the current quarter, state-owned bank SBI paid an advance tax of Rs 1,795 crore as against Rs 1,700 crore in the second quarter posting a growth rate of 5.59 per cent, while ONGC paid Rs 1917 crore compared to Rs 1711 crore.
LIC paid an advance tax of Rs 981.45 crore in the third quarter as against Rs 870.99 crore and Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL paid Rs 834 crore as against Rs 456 crore posting a growth rate of 82.89 per cent.

While state-owned Steel major SAIL paid Rs 1,100 crore against Rs 750.46 crore recording a growth rate of 46.88 per cent private steel giant Tata Steel paid an advance tax of Rs 650 crore compared to Rs 250 crore posting a growth rate of 160 per cent.