'You're working for govt for 5 months a year': Ashneer Grover's rant about taxes in India goes viral

In a video that went viral, former BharatPe MD Ashneer Grover said that the tax system in India is skewed and paying taxes in the country is like a 'punishment' with government taking away 30-40 percent of the salaried people's 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 you know that I will earn Rs 10 and out of which, Rs 4 will be kept by the government, then 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 added.

The former Shark Tank India judge further explained that since entrepreneurs understand this, they do not pay taxes, while salaried employees are not left with any option because the tax is deducted directly at source as TDS.

“So tax, it’s a punishment. On top of this, you’re paying 18 per cent GST. So at the end of the day, who are you living for?” he asked to the crowd in the viral video.

In another viral video, Grover expressed his intention to prioritise the reduction of income tax rates in India if he ever becomes a politician.

Grover further emphasised that if the tax rate is uniformly set at 10-15 percent for all individuals and stringent measures are implemented to prevent tax evasion, the government would ultimately generate higher tax revenues.

“India is a country where you need to experiment. Keep the tax rate of flat 10-15 per cent for everyone and everybody has to pay taxes,” said Grover.

“The government will still end up collecting more tax than you are collecting today by charging 40 per cent marginal rate,” he added.

In a recent development, Grover criticised a recent government notification that introduced a higher Tax Collected at Source (TCS) rate of 20 percent on international credit card transactions.

Mocking the regulation imposed by the government, the former BharatPe MD pointed out the disparity where political donations receive tax exemption while the new rule focuses on tax deduction for credit card spending.

"20 percent TCS on foreign travel, 20 percent TCS on foreign credit card spend, and the LRS limit is an interesting rule. It is interesting to note that political donations never attract TCS of any kind. These individuals and companies get a tax rebate)," he had tweeted.

 

Also Watch |. India vs Pakistan World Cup match on October 15 as per draft schedule, venue, live streaming, squad, Rohit Sharma, Babar Azam, ICC Men Cricket World Cup Qualifiers set to begin

Also Read | ‘We should not consider Sam Altman anything other than an important man in AI’: MoS IT