India shining? MNC banks’ advance tax payment spirals

Citibank India, the largest foreign bank in the country, is riding a net profit wave while its parent in the United States totters.

Citibank India, the largest foreign bank in the country, is riding a net profit wave while its parent in the United States totters. Citibank India paid Rs 1,010 crore as advance tax in the fourth quarter of 2008-09, nearly three times the amount it paid a year earlier, Income Tax sources said.

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For the whole of 2008-09, Citibank India paid advance tax of Rs 1,710 crore — 35 per cent more than in 2007-08, when its net profit had doubled to Rs 1,804 crore.

The fact that Citibank India has paid a much higher amount as advance clearly suggests that its net profit in 2008-09 would see a big jump over the previous year.

Standard Chartered Bank paid Rs 1,230 crore as advance tax for 2008-09, 15 per cent more than the previous year. Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) paid Rs 1,375 crore for the current year, up 27 per cent from 2007-08.

Barclays Bank (Rs 272 crore against Rs 70 crore) and JP Morgan Chase Bank (Rs 387 crore against Rs 132 crore) too have paid substantially higher advance tax in 2008-09 compared to the previous year.