The top slot in the list of the country's top ten highest advance taxpayers has been bagged by the largest lender in the country, State Bank of India (SBI). The bank has made a payment of Rs. 6, 552 crore this fiscal, an Income Tax official said.

The last quarter of the current fiscal has seen a huge surge in advance tax payment with most companies paying higher tax in this quarter.

Apart from SBI, three other public sector entities have grabbed positions in the top 10 chart. These names include LIC, Indian Oil and Bank of Baroda.

SBI has paid Rs. 6, 552 crore towards advance tax as compared to Rs. 5, 733 crore paid during the same period last year. LIC tops the chart amongst non banking public sector entities while Mukesh Ambani driven RIL has gained the top slot amongst private sector companies.

LIC made a payment of Rs. 3, 253 crore this year and RIL paid Rs.3, 075crore towards advance tax. Last year's figures for the two companies during the same period were Rs.2,988 crore and Rs. 1, 838crore for LIC and RIL respectively.

"SBI is followed by LIC (second spot), which has made a total payment of Rs 3,253 crore for FY'10 against Rs 2,988 crore last fiscal," the source said.

"Indian Oil Corporation is fourth in the list while Bank of Baroda (BoB) is seventh," the source said.

Standard Chartered Bank and HDFC Bank have also enlisted their names in the list of top ten at fifth and sixth spots respectively, the source said.