Thread: Income Tax

I have always wondered why do I have to pay income tax and what do I get in return? These are just two of the many questions I have been asking myself for years now. I have lived in a number of countries and paid income taxes as per the local laws but I have never felt too bad about paying my taxes in countries like USA, UK, Canada and some others but now that I am a resident in India for tax purposes I just hate it every moment . I have been an honest man all my life and never hidden a single rupee from the tax man but the government that takes away more then 30% of my income here in India is not giving back enough is what I feel .

I pay my taxes to drive on substandard roads full of pot holes... I pay my taxes to the government that provides one of the worst medical facility I have seen anywhere in the world.. I pay my taxes that are used to pay the salaries of "the" most corrupt people on Earth I pay my taxes to a government which is not capable of providing any emergency services The last time I called the police was for an accident victim on the GT road near Amritsar and it took the police 5 hours to come to the site and I have no idea if the ambulance ever made it.. the accident victim died in my hands and I couldnt do jack **** for him because I paid my taxes to a country that spends my money on everything that they shouldnt... My money was spent to pay for a mega scam called the common wealth games I know for sure that if I have an accident today I will die on the road side because the ambulance wont ever reach me and the police would come when my dead body starts smelling too bad and residents in the area start complaining..

Why should I keep paying truck loads of money to a government that is not capable of keeping law and order on the streets and save the minorities from getting killed in huge numbers ... Why should I keep paying income tax to a government where I do not count and life is worth mere Rs2 lakhs.. that's what they pay you if you die in a train accident I guess.

I pay more taxes then the president of India and prime minister and half of the cabinet put together probably but I am the one who has to wait for those good for nothing people to pass by in the government cars with red lights on top... they should be the one letting me pass by first.. don't you think? after all I am the one who pays their salaries..

People in my country are so used to of substandard good and services that they do not even complain.. but what have we all done to deserve this? Why is it so difficult to find even one government employee that is not corrupt?
I live in the capital of this country and the water that comes through the taps is "dirty" and "smelly" I have not checked recently but I am sure it would not be any better now... We use ground water drawn from 450 feet below and as per the government it is illegal.. they wont supply clean water and wont let people do their own thing either.. The purification system alone cost me a few lakh rupees which is again an extra expense that I think is a tax for living in India..

Why should I keep paying income tax to a non functional government which does not care about me? Why not move to a country where do not have any income tax or at least to a country where people get to live like human beings?

I would like to know what you guys think about the taxes in India and what happens to the money we pay and what we get in return!

What option do we have ? We have better things to do in our life than filing an RTI or go to consumer court. Evading tax has its own risk but most of the rich people do it successfully. It is the common man who suffers. He who have to spare from the little he earn. Hoping that this is his rightful duty as a citizen. We have enough time to teach lesson to admins or mods of the forums but have no time to rise your voice against what is happening with the money you deserve to benefit from. As long as we keep silence, the same thing happens to us again and again. Do nothing, but just vote to the right candidate (if you can find any).

IncomeTax:
80 to 90% of total collection goes as share to the State Govts./ based on population/tax collected/ etc

Small States like Meghalaya/Manipur /Nagaland etc get some consideration as IT collection likely to be low in those States.

Population in ( post partition) 1947 ----- about 33 crore.
Population in 2011............................... about 110 crore.
I.Tax assessed ...........................about 3 crores
( Income Less than 2 lakhs/per Annum most need not pay I.T diff slabs)
Below poverty line now ( one meal a day ) about 40% of population
Approx cost of laying a tar road ( with substandard material ?)
( say 30 feet wide ) for each KM Rs1 crore.

Loss to Govt/ PSU selling Petrolgas/diesel/kerosine/lpg below purchase cost. say Rs 2,00,000 crores. EACH YEAR)
( Almost Equal to reported one time loss in 2G spectrum auction)
Loss on domestic LPG cylinder Rs 250/= for each cylinder.
Loss on Kerosene at subsidised rates in crores.
Loss to Govt /PSU Air india about Rs 5000 crores
Loss to Govt ?PSU BSNL about Rs 4000/ crores.
Rotting Food stuff in GOVT godowns in crores. etc etc .
All figures approx and given for illustration only. ( may be some off mark !)

Some States are forging ahead, and standard of living improving
slowly.

"Rob Paul to Pay Peter" same policy adopted by all Governments.

Latest corruption Index : India has improved ranking in the worst list.
Say from 60 to 80 or so out of 100 !!!!!

The problem is that those people who are the driving force of this economy pay the highest amount of taxes for what? Just so that the government can spend that money to buy the votes of poor people in the next election... Am I wrong in saying that the money I pay is spent to buy votes? The tax collection is used to fund useless give aways like the PDS and other subsidies so that those getting that subsidy keep voting the same government into power time and again. In my opinion subsidies should be outlawed in India. I have three cars and all three run of diesel which is highly subsidized by the government but do I really need that subsidy? No I don't need my diesel to be subsidized and I would be more then happy to pay the correct price whatever it may be and would prefer the money that goes into subsidizing my diesel into something productive. The LPG cylinder I buy is subsidized as well but I dont really need the subsidy and that is true about all the people who have net access.
Who needs subsidy? Why subsidize petrol? Why is BSNL making losses? Bring on the BSNL IPO and let some one capable run the company and it will come out a winner in no time.

Moral of the story is that we Indians or at least the ruling class does not care about where this nation is going and do not have the will to make India a better nation.

There are exceptions in our country as well and I believe the present day Gujarat and Bihar are live examples of what a Government that is willing to work hard can do to develop a state.

Absolutely. Let India fully abolish taxes and subsidies.

But then we should also be willing to pay for all services at full cost.

Petrol @ Rs.100/ltr, diesel @ Rs.60/ltr, LPG cylinders @ Rs.500. Metro ride from Gurgaon to CP @ Rs.150. Each single road of every Metro city built by Pvt Co and subject to toll fee. Entry into each State subject to entry fee. So for going to work from NOIDA to Gurgaon pay Rs.500 each way as toll, Rs.250 when you visit the neighborhood market, Rs.300 when you drive to the nearest Multiplex for a movie and so on.

Education is privatised. So pay Rs.25 Lakhs for becoming a graduate.

Wheat/Atta @ Rs.40/Kg and ordinary Rice @ Rs.50/Kg (the Govt knows that PDS stocks are diverted to the market, but acts blind as this keeps market prices in check)

Electricity @ Rs.30/unit as all power plants and distribution system would be private run.



The list is endless.
Pure capitalism is only theoretical. It does not exist even in USA.

Originally Posted by panchabhut

Absolutely. Let India fully abolish taxes and subsidies.

But then we should also be willing to pay for all services at full cost.

Petrol @ Rs.100/ltr, diesel @ Rs.60/ltr, LPG cylinders @ Rs.500. Metro ride from Gurgaon to CP @ Rs.150. Each single road of every Metro city built by Pvt Co and subject to toll fee. Entry into each State subject to entry fee. So for going to work from NOIDA to Gurgaon pay Rs.500 each way as toll, Rs.250 when you visit the neighborhood market, Rs.300 when you drive to the nearest Multiplex for a movie and so on.

Education is privatised. So pay Rs.25 Lakhs for becoming a graduate.

Wheat/Atta @ Rs.40/Kg and ordinary Rice @ Rs.50/Kg (the Govt knows that PDS stocks are diverted to the market, but acts blind as this keeps market prices in check)

Electricity @ Rs.30/unit as all power plants and distribution system would be private run.



The list is endless.
Pure capitalism is only theoretical. It does not exist even in USA.

i agree
i had one officer who used to pass the same joke
every other thing govt gives free
but for petrol you have to pay 10,000 per litre. and a cup of coffee at 1000/-

@ panchabhut and mvs sarma

Your posts do not make any sense to me but what you guys said in your posts does give away your understanding of macro economics and I wonder where you got these thoughts from!

I'm also very disheartened by the number and size of the scams. When fodder scam was exposed 10 years back in Bihar, the amount was Rs. 950 crores. Bofors and few other scams used to be of 50 to few hundred crores.

Now, the reported scams are worth 70000 crores and 200000 crores for CWG and 2G Spectrum respectively. Man they could have built another Reliance or Tata like company in that amount of revenue.

I remember that I was in Delhi during the last Loksabha election. The auto-rikshaw driver said that he is going to vote again for the Congress. I asked why? He told me that since they have already looted country in the last 50 years, they should be less corrupt now. Since BJP has had few years in the office, they will be more hungry for the money than congress. I was left speachless at his logic.

Now, I realize that it is not the government, it is the common man of India who is at fault. We still think that richer the people in power are, the more we are in the safe hands. We are used to getting ruled by the kings. The story hasn't changed a bit.

Today that rikshaw driver has been betrayed again. Still he will be hopeful while casting his vote again. Politicians should not worry. The more they are corrupt, the more they have the chances to make a comeback, the more they have the vote purchasing power.

Jai Hind!

Originally Posted by Admin

@ panchabhut and mvs sarma

Your posts do not make any sense to me but what you guys said in your posts does give away your understanding of macro economics and I wonder where you got these thoughts from!

Dear Admin, perhaps it is out of context. i could have read the entire posts. Tax collections are used by govt for policies that are declared by the ruling party/ parties.
so, any feeling that they are ill spent and a tax payer doesn't get a proper facility or benefits back, perhaps it is the mistake of average Indians who vote . Even educated idealistic, cant choose from the list of candidates, as these are pp[reselected by the parties to meet their cause. after the election, the elected few are constrained under party discipline and cant serve their constituency to what they promise.

Thus it is a systemic fault. Nonpayment of taxes, as they are not spent properly, is not a solution. we have to seek correction elsewhere. I know of people who crave a ration card even after owning multistory house. In my case I had dispensed with it 30 years back. as you rightly pointed we don't need subsidized food.

but things like cooking gas is used by common people below poverty line even. selective subsidies wont work in India like nations. so we can use such subsidies , even if we don't like.\
Perhaps it takes time to correct the Indian situation, that needs some one to bell the cat.

@Admin
The figures quoted are based on a paper of a world renouned Nobel Prize winner.