Hardly anyone pays income tax in India
THE BBC reported yesterday that Tax avoidance is a big issue in India, where only 3% of the country's 1.2 bn people pay income tax. One factor is that around 400 m people are simply too poor to pay taxes, but India's collection system is also notoriously poor and its tax rules complex to follow. Outright tax evasion by the super rich and many of those on middle incomes is also a major problem. Agriculture is exempt and two-thirds of Indians live in rural areas. A large chunk of the economy is also informal, unorganized labour, for which it's harder to collect taxes. Many argue that some of the country's financial problems would be solved in one fell swoop, if this massive tax hole could be filled.
This report seems to have approval of the CBDT as for some visuals, BBC says, "Courtesy, Income Tax Department".
Further the CBDT Website states:
"BBC World News Channel will telecast a story on Income Tax Collections in India at 11 am and 10 pm on Sunday, 9th of June, 2013, and at 6 am on Monday, 10th of June, 2013, as part of India Business Report Show.
The story will also be telecast on Monday, 10th of June, 2013, as part of World Business Report all day.
It is requested that the programme may be viewed by all concerned."
Does CBDT endorse the view that we are a Nation of tax evaders ?