Financial majors pay higher advance tax this year

Financial sector majors have shelled out a higher advance tax in Q2 FY11 as compared to the year ago period, indicating that the sector is geared to perform healthily this fiscal.

India's largest and public sector State Bank of India has paid Rs 1,924-crore (Rs 19.24 billion) as advance tax in the July-September quarter as against Rs 1,832-crore (Rs 18.32 billion) in the year-ago period.

ICICI Bank, the country's second-largest has paid Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) while last year the private sector bank had shelled out Rs 501-crore (Rs 5.01 billion), an Income Tax source said.

Home-loans major, HDFC, has paid Rs 400-crore (Rs 4 billion) this quarter as against Rs 320-crore (Rs 3.2 billion) in the year-ago period.

New-gen private sector bank Yes Bank said in a statement that it has paid an 81 per cent more advance tax this quarter at Rs 105-crore (Rs 1.05 billion), as against Rs 58-crore (Rs 580 million) in the same quarter last year, Dhanalakshmi Bank, an old private sector bank has paid the same amount as last year -- Rs 3-crore (Rs 30 million), a source close to the development said.

HDFC Bank has paid Rs 600-crore (Rs 6 billion) this quarter as against Rs 425-crore (Rs 4.25 billion) in the same quarter last fiscal while life insurance giant, LIC, has shelled out a higher amount at Rs 1,067-crore (Rs 10.67 billion) as against Rs 939-crore  (Rs 9.39 billion)in the year-ago period, the Income Tax source said.

The figures available so far indicate that the financial sector has fared fairly robustly this fiscal and has emerged as a major contributor to the Government's tax kitty.