Top firms, banks pay lower advance tax

The other large companies which have paid lower taxes during the second quarter include Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, National Aluminium, 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 companies like ONGC, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel, overall collection from top 100 corporates during July-September quarter was up by 9.86 per cent as compared to corresponding period last fiscal.

The increase in advance tax realisation during April- September works out to be 12.02 per cent, according to the data on top 100 companies tabulated by the I-T Department. While Indian Oil paid no advance tax during the quarter as against Rs 351 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal, payment by Bharat Petroleum declined by 83 per cent to Rs 35 crore during the period.

The slowdown also hit auto sector, with Maruti Suzuki paying Rs 120 crore during second quarter, down 55.88 per cent over last year’s, while Hyundai’s tax declined by 13.52 per cent to Rs 81 crore. Tata Motors showed no increase in payment during the second quarter. As per CBDT data, net advance tax collection in the first six months of the fiscal stood at Rs 1.8 lakh crore, up 6.6 per cent year-on-year.

SBI and Oriental Bank of Commerce paid lesser tax in the second quarter of fiscal over July-September 2010. Tax contribution by Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank and Canara Bank showed an increase. Advance tax payment by ICICI Bank, however, remained flat at Rs 650 crore.

NTPC’s payment increased of 42.49 per cent at Rs 721 crore in the period under review, while that of Neyveli Lignite Corporation was down 50.19 per cent.