Initial figures of advance corporate tax paid by the top 100 companies in Mumbai for the fourth quarter of this fiscal were almost flat.
A source at the Income-tax Department said that there were lower payments in several sectors, which were impacted by a host of factors, including high interest rate and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers. This is despite some leading banks and financial institutions remitting a higher tax.
During the first three quarters of the current fiscal, these companies, which account for about three-fourth of the corporate tax collection in Mumbai, paid marginally lower tax of Rs.43,123 crore (Rs.43,586 crore).
There has been a drop in advance tax paid by oil and oil marketing companies, largely due to under-recoveries. Hindustan Petroleum paid no advance tax during the quarter (Rs.30 crore last year) while Bharat Petroleum did not pay any tax this quarter.
Insurance heavyweight LIC paid Rs.971 crore (Rs.931 crore). State Bank of India paid 10 per cent higher tax at Rs.1,650 crore (Rs.1,500 crore). HDFC paid Rs.400 crore (Rs.340 crore), HDFC Bank Rs.600 crore (Rs.550 crore) and ICICI bank Rs.425 crore (Rs.450 crore).
The remittance by public sector banks such as Central Bank of India and Bank of Baroda remained unchanged at Rs.100 crore and Rs.400 crore, while Bank of India paid more at Rs.400 crore (Rs.320 crore). Dena Bank, a smaller player, paid significantly higher Rs.120 crore (Rs.50 crore) while Yes Bank paid Rs.110 crore (Rs.100 crore).
Large foreign financial institutions paid higher tax led by Citibank at Rs.500 crore (Rs.450 crore), Standard Chartered Bank Rs.420 crore (Rs.200 crore) and Deutsche Bank Rs.300 crore (Rs.170 crore). HSBC's payment was unchanged at Rs.450 crore.
Among leading companies, Reliance Industries paid Rs.1,130 crore (Rs.1,054 crore) while engineering conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro's advance tax was flat at Rs.300 crore.
TCS and Tata Power's outgo went up considerably to Rs.550 crore (Rs.200 crore) and Rs.90 crore (Rs.40 crore). Tata Steel paid lower tax at Rs.900 crore (Rs.950 crore) and Tata Motors' payout was flat at Rs.50 crore. AV Birla Group's UltraTech Cement paid Rs.170 crore (Rs.120 crore), ACC Rs.150 crore (Rs.170 crore) and Ambuja Cement Rs.250 crore (Rs.170 crore). AV Birla Group's Grasim paid Rs.100 crore (Rs 130 crore) while aluminium major Hindalco paid Rs.150 crore (Rs.160 crore).
Bajaj Auto paid Rs.290 crore (Rs.250 crore) while Mahindra & Mahindra paid Rs.200 crore (Rs.300 crore).
Hindustan Unilever paid Rs.175 crore (Rs.140 crore) while Piramal Healthcare paid almost no tax against Rs.4,000 crore last year.
