Advance corporate tax paid by top Mumbai-based companies for the third quarter of 2012-13, indicate a marginal rise in tax paid for the period. Companies pay advance tax in four instalments towards the end of each financial quarter, and the quantum of payment reflects their assessment of profitability during the quarter.
According to figures from income-tax officials, among public sector banks, State Bank of India paid slightly lower advance tax at Rs.1,701 crore for the quarter against Rs.1,730 crore in the same period last year. Bank of Baroda paid Rs.550 crore (Rs.525 crore), Central Bank of India Rs.120 crore (Rs.104 crore) and Union Bank of India Rs.341 crore (Rs.221 crore).
Insurance major LIC paid Rs.1,297 crore (Rs.1,166 crore) while Larsen & Toubro paid 5 per cent lower tax of Rs.330 crore (Rs.350 crore).
Among housing finance companies, HDFC paid an 18 per cent higher advance tax of Rs.560 crore (Rs.475 crore) while LIC Housing Finance paid Rs.113 crore (Rs.91 crore).
Among the large corporates, Reliance Industries paid 10 per cent higher advance tax of Rs.1,100 crore,
From the Tata Group, Tata Motors paid nil (Rs.60 crore), Tata Steel paid less than half of last year’s figure at Rs.520 crore (Rs.1,090 crore) and Tata Chemicals Rs.70 crore (Rs.72 crore). However, TCS paid higher tax at Rs.620 crore (Rs.530 crore), the officials said.
From the cement sector, Aditya Birla-owned UltraTech Cement paid Rs.250 crore (Rs.200 crore), Holcim-owned ACC and Ambuja Cement paid Rs.112 crore (Rs.95 crore) and Rs.150 crore (Rs.113 crore) respectively.
Being the country’s commercial capital, Mumbai, not surprisingly accounts for around a third of the country’s direct tax collections. The Income-tax Department’s target for the Mumbai circle for 2012-13 is Rs.1.78 lakh-crore, a 13.5 per cent rise over the previous year.
