Advance tax and TDS payments by corporates

The growth rate in advance tax payments and TDS payments by the corporates for last three years for the June quarter is as under:

(Rs in Crore)

            Thus, the growth of 24.1% in advance tax payments by the corporate taxpayers is quite healthy. Further, though the growth rate this year is less than the corresponding growth rate of 27.9% for 2007-08, the growth in Corporate TDS is 60.5% this year as against 43.1% in the last year. It is clear that the marginal decline in the growth of advance tax payment is because of substantially higher contribution from TDS of the corporate taxpayers. Companies generally estimate their TDS outgo and reduce the advance tax liability accordingly. Combined growth rate of advance tax and TDS this year is 40.3% as against 34.3% last year.

            If advance tax payments of the top ten corporate taxpayers for the June quarter are compared, the growth rate comes to 7%. This is due to the reason that some of the prominent oil distribution companies have been badly hit by the spike in international crude prices. If the top 100 companies are taken into account, the growth in advance tax payments is 17%. However, the overall growth of advance tax payment of all the companies is around 24% for the June quarter indicating that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have in fact paid proportionately high advance tax, thereby belying any conclusion of slowdown in the economy based on advance tax payments.

BSC/SS/GN-205/08