The positive trend of tax payment amongst advance tax payers seems to be an indicative that the Indian economy has jaunted well in the current fiscal, despite the tinge of global meltdown.

According to an Income Tax Department official, most of the companies with a few exceptions have paid higher tax in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal.

"According to preliminary data, several companies have paid a higher tax this quarter," the source added.

However, the tax payment coming from banking sector has been quite poor. Bank of India paid Rs 100 crore against Rs 590 crore last year. Union Bank of India paid Rs 185 crore against Rs 253 crore last year.

The third quarter had seen commendable performance coming from the banks. Allahabad Bank was the leader and registered the highest growth of 658% in its advance tax payment. It made a payment of Rs 341 crore in the April-December period against Rs 45 crore in the same period last year.

The top ten organizations which recorded the highest advance tax payment had 3 banks in the kit. These banks were Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda.

Orientation towards advance tax payment indicates that LIC, RIL and TCS are amongst the top few players who have reported a sizable growth in profitability. LIC topped the list with Rs. 864 crore payments. RIL stood at a distant second position with Rs. 770 crore. Last year's figures for the two companies during the same period were Rs. 810 crore and Rs. 365 crore for LIC and RIL respectively.

Glaxo Smithkline (Rs 68 crore) paid higher tax this quarter against Rs 56 crore it paid during same quarter last year. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services made a payment of Rs 58 crore advance taxes in Q4 against Rs 46 crore in Q4 FY'09.