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Good news in ‘advance’
Advance income tax collection up by 27 pc in Q1
Anuja Jaiswal/TNS

Chandigarh, July 31
If the advance tax collections by the Income Tax Department in the first quarter of 2010-2011 are any indication of the way things are going to go during the remaining fiscal, economic planners can keep humming the Hollywood hit “All izz well” as revenues have increased by almost 27 per cent, with both corporate and individual taxes showing an upwardly swing.

The advance tax collection in the first quarter of 2010-2011 of the north-west region (NWR) has been Rs 2,696.3 crore as compared to Rs 2,129.1 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, thereby registering an increase of 26.6 per cent. The growth in collection is eight per cent higher than the increase registered in the first quarter of the last fiscal as compared to 2008-2009, indicating a reversal in the recessionary trend. It’s encouraging to see that while the corporate tax has registered an increase of 16.5 per cent, going up from Rs 1,067 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 1,243 crore in the current fiscal, individual or taxes other than companies have registered a growth of a whopping 40 per cent.

As compared to Rs 1,037 crore in 2009-10, individual taxes in the first quarter have gone up to Rs 1,451 crore. Economists and senior IT officials describe this growth as an indicator of a “robust economy” and say if this trend continues for the remaining fiscal, tax collections will be much higher than the previous year.

With this growth, the Chandigarh region has moved a notch up, from the ninth position to the eight position, in the All-India ranking of advance tax collection by the department.

Jindal Steel and Power Limited, a company owned by Haryana MP Naveen Jindal’s family, is the top advance tax payer in the corporate sector in the NWR with a deposit of Rs 120.59. The State Bank of Patiala is on the second position with a payment of Rs 72 crore as advance tax, posting a growth of 33.33 per cent in comparison to tax paid last year. Faridabad-based power major NHPC Limited paid advance tax to the tune of Rs 70 crore, which was up by 250 per cent against tax paid during the same period in the last fiscal. The total tax paid by the company in the last fiscal was Rs 362 crore. 

Total net collection

Tax 2009-10 2010-11 Growth

Net collection 2,129.1 2,696.3 26.6%

Corporate 1,067 1,243 16.5%

Income 1,037 1,451 40%

(Figures in crore)