Advance tax: SBI, ICICI see sharp fall; LIC, RIL pay more

Bogged down by rising non-performing assets, State Bank of India on Thursday reported a 25.9 percent decline in its advance tax payment for Q 2 FY 17. The bank paid ~1,200 cr ore as advance tax, compared with ~1,620 cr ore in the corresponding period last year. Private lender I CI CI Bank also reported a decline in advance tax out go for the September quarter. It has paid ~1,200 cr ore ,20 percent lower than the same period a year ago. Tat a Steel’ s advance tax payment was up 100 per cent y-o-y, followed by a 26.5 percent jump in Reliance Industries’ out goat ~2,667 cr ore.

Bogged down by rising nonperforming assets, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, on Thursday reported a 25.9 per cent decline in its advance tax payment for Q2 FY17. The bank paid ~1,200 crore as advance tax, compared with ~1,620 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Private lender ICICI Bank has also reported a decline in advance tax outgo for the September quarter. It has paid ~1,200 crore, 20 per cent lower than the same period a year ago.

In contrast, HDFC Bank’s Q2 advance tax outgo jumped 20 per cent year-on-year to ~2,400 crore. HDFC Ltd’s advance tax payment also increased 7.5 per cent to ~860 crore.

Top corporates have paid more advance tax in second quarter this year. Tata Steel’s advance tax payment was up 100 per cent y-o-y, followed by a 26.5 per cent jump in Reliance Industries’ (RIL) outgo at ~2,667 crore. Software services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) paid ~1,550 crore, compared with ~1,750 crore last year.

Advance tax is a system of staggered payment of income tax in four quarterly instalments. It is considered a barometer of a company’s performance in a particular quarter.

“Advance tax collections from top banks are disappointing as they contribute a major part of the government revenues,” said an income tax department official.

Cement major UltraTech paid ~180 crore as advance tax, up 20 per cent from the year-ago quarter. Some PSBs have posted good numbers. For instance, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India’s advance tax outgo was up 25 per cent, respectively. However, Central Bank’s outgo was down 29.7 per cent.

YES Bank’s advance tax outgo was ~400 crore, compared with ~285 crore in the year-ago period.

Foreign banks posted mixed numbers. Citi Bank and Standard Chartered Bank paid ~700 crore and ~560 crore, respectively as advance tax.

Consumer major Hindustan Unilever paid ~500 crore, against ~460 crore in Q2 FY16.

Auto companies have shown mixed numbers. While Mahindra & Mahindra paid 11.1 per cent more tax than Q2 FY16, Bajaj Auto paid ~390 crore, compared with ~450 crore last year.

Similarly, pharma major Lupin’s advance tax outgo was up 24 per cent.