'Tax Payers Are Meaningless Minority As Far Elections Are Concerned,' Says Ashneer Grover

While Ashneer Grover did not directly name any politician, his comments seem to be a response to the recent controversy surrounding inheritance tax, which was sparked by Congress's Sam Pitroda

Ashneer Grover, Former Managing Director Of BharatPe

Source : X

BhartPe Co-founder Ashneer Grover on Wednesday addressed the speeches delivered at political rallies and said that taxpayers are considered the "meaningless minority" during the Lok Sabha elections. The former judge on Shark Tank India stated that politicians can freely express their views on tax matters during these rallies because only 0.5 per cent of voters contribute "any meaningful income tax."

Describing it as "tax politics," Grover wrote on X, "You need to understand ‘Tax Politics’ in India. 8/140 crore file IT returns. 2/140 crore Indians pay income tax. Only. 45 lakh of them contribute 80 per cent of this income tax. Total 97 crore voters. Do the maths -- 0.5 per cent 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."

You need to understand ‘Tax Politics’ in India.

8/140 crore file IT Return.

2/140 crore Indians pay Income Tax. Only.

45 Lakh of them contribute 80% of this Income Tax.

Total 97 crore voters.

Do the maths - 0.5% of voters pay any meaningful Income Tax.

So you can say…

— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) April 24, 2024

While Grover did not directly name any politician, his comments seem to be a response to the recent controversy surrounding inheritance tax, which was sparked by Congress's Sam Pitroda. On Wednesday, the Indian Overseas Congress chairman stirred a new political debate by labelling inheritance tax as an "interesting idea."

“If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children, 55 per cent 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 the public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," Pitroda said.

This post by the entrepreneur is going viral on social media and, by far, has generated more than 1 million views and hundreds of comments. “Government need to identify and bring high earners to proper taxation. Many people earn much higher in real life but they don't file IT return. We often hear about crorepati paanwala, chaatwala, chailwala etc. Bank transactions, Property transactions can become handly in identifying them,” wrote one of the X users.

This is not the first time that Ashneer Grover, who identifies as a conscientious taxpayer, has voiced his opinion on income tax. Back in June 2023, he criticised India's tax structure, asserting that the government extracts 30-40 per cent of individuals' income without offering discernible advantages in return.