Column : Tax administration, heal thyself

Dr C Rangarajan, adviser to the Prime Minister, stated, appropriately on the Financial Inclusion day, that “one need not disturb the structure of income tax system as it is now. But add a surcharge for income above particular level. I believe as we go along, we need to raise more revenues and the people with larger incomes must be willing to contribute more.”

Note the populist appeal to the super-rich. They should be willing—or else, off with their heads (income). As discussed in my earlier article (Taxing the rich and other fantasies, FE, January 23 “http://goo.gl/Mcini”), there is precious little evidence to support Rangarajan’s recommendation. What the data do suggest, and documented extensively below, is that the reason that tax revenue is considerably below potential, is because the middle income group, those earning between R5 lakh to R10 lakh, is quite “unwilling” to pay taxes, even at an average tax rate of 10%! And that the most “willing” are the super-rich, those earning above Rs 20 lakh a year. The raise tax rates recommendation should be junked, especially since stable tax rates have generated “good” tax revenue and allowed compliance to increase more than three

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