Middle class bearing more weight of heavy taxation than corporates: Jairam Ramesh attacks Centre

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre on Sunday, over the recent tax collection data, and said that individuals are paying more tax than companies, and the middle class is bearing the weight of heavy taxation while Rs 2 lakh crore has been put in "pockets of billionaires" due to slashing of corporate taxes.

He highlighted that income tax collection stood at Rs 3.61 lakh crores and gross corporate tax collections were Rs 2.65 lakh crores, from April 1 to July 1, 2024.

Taking to social media platform X, Jairam Ramesh said, "As we head towards the Budget on July 23rd, data has just been released that gross personal income tax collections amounted to Rs 3.61 lakh crores during April 1-July 1 2024 while gross corporate tax collections were Rs 2.65 lakh crores. This reconfirms and re-establishes the point we have been making for quite some time--that individuals are paying more tax than companies."



The Congress general secretary further highlighted that during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure, personal income tax was 21 per cent of total tax collection, while today it has risen to 28 per cent, while corporate tax on companies has fallen from 35 per cent to 26 per cent.

He also criticised the 2019 move of the Centre to reduce corporate tax rates and said that it didn't trigger private investment as was being anticipated, instead private investment has fallen from 35 per cent under UPA rule to under 29 per cent today.

"When Dr. Manmohan Singh left office, personal income tax was 21% of total tax collections, while corporate tax was 35%. Today, the share of corporate taxes out of total tax collection has dropped sharply to its lowest level in a decade, at just 26%. Meanwhile, the share of personal income tax in total tax collection has shot up to 28%," Ramesh said.

"Corporate tax rates were slashed on 20 Sept 2019 in the hope that it would trigger a private investment boom. But that has NOT happened. Instead, private investment has collapsed, from a peak of 35% of GDP under Dr. Manmohan Singh, to below 29% during 2014-24. The corporate tax cut has put over Rs. 2 lakh crore in the pockets of billionaires, while the middle class continues to bear the weight of heavy taxation," he further stated.