Why income tax payers in India are a small and shrinking breed
Out of 125 crore Indians only 1.5% (1.9 crore) pay income tax.
By TNN | Updated:
Out of 125 crore Indians only 1.5% (1.9 crore) pay income tax.
Even among the few who do pay income tax, the disparities are huge.
If a small fraction of Indians bears most of the tax burden, it is because they earn a disproportionate share of income.
In fact, the number of income taxpayers has fallen, even though tax revenue has risen.
There is no solution to shrinking tax base as long as 98.5% Indians don’t pay income tax. Here is why:
Even among the few who do pay income tax, the disparities are huge.
If a small fraction of Indians bears most of the tax burden, it is because they earn a disproportionate share of income.
ADVERTISEMENT
In fact, the number of income taxpayers has fallen, even though tax revenue has risen.
There is no solution to shrinking tax base as long as 98.5% Indians don’t pay income tax. Here is why:
ADVERTISEMENT
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
Related Articles
Income tax dept identifies up to 20,000 cases of individuals who used the ‘swapped provisions’ trick to reduce net tax liability; Know what to do now to fix this2026-06-24T12:27:33Z- Income Tax AY 2026-27: Even if your salary income is below Rs 12.75 lakh, you still need to pay tax for these incomes2026-06-22T09:17:43Z
- NRE vs NRO income tax rules: How these NRIs, OCIs can save up to Rs 20,500 on $10,000 FD investment2026-06-19T07:13:50Z
* Will take steps to ensure participation of women in MGNREGA up to 55%.
* For imparting new skills to people in rural areas, mason training will be provided to five lakh persons by 2022.
* The government proposes to complete 1 crore houses for those without homes.
* Will allocate Rs 19,000 crore for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in 2017-18.
* The country is set to achieve 100% rural electrification by March 2018.
* With a progress of Swachh Bharat mission, sanitation coverage has gone up from 42% in Oct 13 to 60% now.
Read more here
ADVERTISEMENT
