Higher remittance by banks and financial institutions seem to have bolstered the advance tax collection in the September quarter.
Companies pay income tax in four instalments, keeping a view on their future earning prospects and conserving cash for near-term investments. A higher payout reflects the confidence of better future earnings.
The deadline for filing the advance tax returns for the second quarter was September 15.
State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, paid 10 per cent higher tax at Rs 1,820 crore (Rs 1,650 crore in the year ago period), while ICICI Bank paid 25 per cent more at Rs 815 crore (Rs 650 crore).
HDFC Bank remitted Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 800 crore), while Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank paid higher tax at Rs 620 crore (Rs 600 crore) and Rs 830 crore (Rs 760 crore). Citi Bank paid Rs 400 crore (Rs 300 crore).
Despite the tough times being faced by the insurance sector, Life Insurance Corporation’s payout jumped to Rs 1,300 crore from Rs 1,160 crore, the tax official said.
Hit by the fall in gas production at KG-D6 and shrinking margins in the refinery business, Reliance Industries cut its tax payment by 15 per cent to Rs 1,530 crore. Hindustan Petroleum’s tax outgo was up sharply at Rs 49 crore (Rs 28 crore).
TCS’ payment was up 35 per cent at Rs 812 crore, while Tata Power and Tata Chemicals payout rose marginally to Rs 75 crore and Rs 60 crore, respectively .
Delhi down a tad
Tax payment by top 100 Delhi-based companies was down marginally at Rs 7,168 crore (Rs 7,242 crore), according to sources in the Income-Tax Department.
These include Gail at Rs 430 crore (Rs 490 crore), SAIL Rs 350 crore (Rs 540 crore), Oriental Bank of Commerce Rs 150 crore (Rs 255 crore) and Petronet LNG Rs 105 crore (Rs 170 crore).
Bharti Airtel’s tax payment was down 44 per cent at Rs 140 crore (Rs 252 crore), while that of Samsung India, nearly tripled to Rs 150 crore (Rs 56 crore).
NTPC increased its payout by 11 per cent to Rs 800 crore and Power Finance Corporation’s was up at Rs 381 crore (Rs 290 crore).
Among automobile companies Bajaj Auto and M&M hiked their payments to Rs 300 crore (Rs 250 crore) and Rs 200 crore (Rs 180 crore), but Hero Honda moderated its payment to Rs 155 crore (Rs 161 crore).