4 Comments

………The vision of our great leaders who fought for independence of India, seems to have shattered as the wealthy people have gripped the entire systems to their advantage. A balanced tax structure is a big dream for the common people who have almost lost hope for their economic advancement whatever the size of our economy is envisioned for 2047 or beyond……..

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We talk in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and economy – The politicians and bureaucrats also talk in terms of the missing E: equity, but it is more of rhetoric and very little action in that direction.

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Fundamental flaw in the report is that it is looking at bottom 50%, which is a huge chunk. Inequalities can never be fully eradicated. There are many income levels in the bottom 50%. If the objective of the report is to see if any poor are burdened by taxes, then probably we should look at tax contribution by the bottom 10 or 15%. Similarly, how much privileged are the rich, we should look at top 5% and include all - direct and indirect taxes to see the contributions in taxes. The inequalities, that way, may not be far out of balance. Further, world has tested all models, from Adam Smith to Karl Marx to Keynes, nothing has worked to make people equal. I think a variation study by excluding top 5% and bottom 10%, could give some meaningful insights.

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Cogent argument. If only the department were to share the micro data.

In that case, deeper analysis would be possible and the results used to improve the system.

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