Corporate tax advances to grow 20 per cent in Q1

Advance corporate tax collections recorded healthy growth in the first quarter of the fiscal year, tax authorities said on Tuesday, in yet another indicator that economic growth continues to gain momentum after the global downturn.

On the last day for companies to pay advance taxes to the government, officials said they were hopeful for a 20 per cent increase in collections for the quarter to end-June.

Figures that began trickling in on Tuesday afternoon showed a 100-per cent or more year-on-year increase in payments made by several companies. These include blue-chips such as Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HPCL and Bajaj Auto.

Advance tax payments by companies during the April-June quarter account for 15 per cent of the total advance tax payable in the fiscal year and the first quarter's trend has triggered hope among authorities that corporate tax collections will be much better for a year as a whole. Corporate taxes account for more than 62 per cent of total direct tax collections.

TCS paid Rs128 crore in advance taxes during the quarter, up 142 per cent from Rs53 crore it paid in the April-June period last fiscal. RIL has paid Rs653 crore, an increase of 108 per cent, while HPCL paid Rs61 crore, a 307 per cent increase. Bajaj Auto paid Rs110 crore against Rs50 crore last year.

The country's top consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever paid Rs75 crore, the same as last the last fiscal year.