Commenting on the speeches being made at political rallies, Ashneer Grover on Wednesday said that taxpayers are the "meaningless minority" during the Lok Sabha elections. The Third Unicorn founder and former Shark Tank India judge said that politicians can get away with whatever they say on tax in these rallies because only 0.5 percent of the voters pay "any meaningful income tax."
Terming it "tax politics," Grover wrote on X, "8/140 crore file IT returns. 2/140 crore Indians pay income tax. Only. 45 lakh of them contribute 80 percent of this income tax. Total 97 crore voters. Do the maths -- 0.5 percent of voters pay any meaningful income tax. So you can say anything on tax in a political rally and get away with it -- taxpayers are the meaningless minority as far elections are concerned."
While Ashneer Grover did not name any politician, he might have been referring to the controversy surrounding comments on inheritance tax made by Congress's Sam Pitroda.
The Indian Overseas Congress chairman on Wednesday ignited a fresh political controversy after calling inheritance tax an "interesting idea".
“If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45 percent to his children, 55 percent is grabbed by the government. That’s an interesting law. It says you, in your generation made wealth, and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," Pitroda said.
Meanwhile, this isn't the first time that Ashneer Grover, who says he is a diligent taxpayer, has commented on income tax. In June 2023, he said that India has a skewed tax system with the government taking away 30-40 percent of our income without any tangible benefits.
"Taxpayers are doing charity in the country. They are not getting any benefits," Grover said. "You tell me one thing, when know that I will earn Rs 10 and Rs 4 will be kept by the government, out of the 12 months, you are working for the government for five months. Now in your life, how many years you have to be a slave for the government... and we have all accepted the way things are: 'It is the way it is.'"
Grover further said that since entrepreneurs understand this, they do not pay taxes, but salaried employees don't have an option because the tax is deducted at the source. "So tax, it's a punishment. On top of this, you're paying 18 percent GST. So at the end of the day, who are you living for?" he asked.
Comments