Reliance Industries pays highest advance tax

Public sector banks advance tax pay out suffers due to higher loan losses

In the September quarter of the current fiscal, Reliance Industries advance tax payment to the Income Tax department stood at Rs 1,670 crore compared to Rs 1,534 crore  year ago, making it the highest payer for the Mumbai circle. The second highest payer to add to the kitty was the country's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India as they coughed up Rs 1,624 crore compared to Rs 1,307 crore in the same period last year. 

 

Public Sector Banks this quarter have seen their advance tax payment declining due to provisioning requirement, on account of both worsening asset quality and higher regulatory requirement for provisioning towards debt restructuring, said a senior IT official. Higher provisioning requirement will impact profitability of government-owned banks.

Central Bank of India has paid Rs 200 crore compared to Rs 268 crore last year, Dena Bank paid Rs 50 crore compared to Rs 185 crore last year. Bank of Baroda advance tax outflow was tad higher at Rs 630 crore compared to Rs 620 crore, State Bank of India tax payout stood at Rs 1,312 crore, a rise of 17%. 

 

 

Foreign and private banks have paid higher advance tax this quarter, HDFC bank paid Rs 1,375 crore, up by 25% compared to last year, ICICI bank paid Rs 975 crore compared to Rs 815 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank is expected to pay Rs 190 crore compared to Rs 160 crore. 

 

Among foreign banks, Citi Bank paid Rs 610 crore compared to Rs 400 crore, while Standard Chartered bank paid 16% higher advance tax at Rs 550 crore. HSBC saw its outflow go down to Rs 425 crore. 

 

This year, the growth in advance tax payment of top 100 companies for the Mumbai circle is expected to see a 7-8% growth in this quarter, and so far this fiscal it has grown by 11%, said a senior IT official. 

 

The target for this fiscal is  for the Mumbai circle is Rs 2.5 lakh  crore compared to Rs 1.74 lakh core last year. 

 

This September quarter oil marketing companies have also added to the tax man's kitty, Indian Oil Corporation has paid Rs 255 crore while BPCL has paid Rs 200 crore. Last year, the oil marketing companies payout was nil. 

 

Cement companies payout also declined this quarter, Ambuja Cement has paid Rs 115 crore, while UltraTech and ACC have paid Rs 160 crore and 85 crore respectively. 

 

Among the pharmaceutical companies that figure in the top 50 payers for the income tax department, Lupin has paid Rs 165 crore versus Rs 100 crore and Cipla has paid Rs 95 crore compared to Rs 80 crore. 

 

Bennett and Coleman Company tax outflow is expected to be flat at Rs 90 crore and Hindustan Unilever is expected to pay Rs 320 crore tad higher than last year. Larsen & Toubro is also expected to pay Rs 350 crore, the same as last year. Hindalco on the other hand may pay Rs 90 crore.