Only 1 Per Cent Indians Pay Income Tax in 2012-13, Shows Government Data
The government has made public the income tax data for last 16 years. If one looks at the 2014-15 figure, just about 4.87 crore people filed tax returns, making it less than 4 per cent of the population (considering population at 125 crore). In the years before that, the number of those who paid taxes is even less. In 2012-13, the figure was close to only about 1 percent of the population. To be sure, the number of those who filed returns does not necessarily indicate the the number of actual taxpayers, since many of them would be below the threshold.
As part of a transparency drive, the government has made public direct tax data for last 15 years. Data for individuals has been published only for 2012-13 assessment year, which shows taxes for income in financial year ended March 31, 2012.
There is a clear evidence here that a significant number of people who are liable to pay taxes aren’t doing so. For instance, going by the government data, only about 11 lakhs people have admitted to have annual salary income of above Rs10 lakhs—clearly an absurd number. This spells out the big task Modi-government at this juncture—take steps to broaden the tax net rather than merely increasing the tax rates.
According to the published data, just two states, Maharashtra and Delhi, contributes more than half of India’s income tax payments.
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