Taxpayers in India: Statistics
India features in list of countries with a significant despirity in among taxpayers. Despite being the largest country in terms of population, there is a vast difference in the incomes of people in India. More than 94 crore Indians are eligible to vote, yet only 2.2% of the population pays taxes.
According to government data released for 2021-22, only 20.9 million – about 2 crore – people in the country were taxpayers, even though the population had exceeded 130 crores at the time. Current reports estimate India’s population to be over 142 crores, but the number of income tax payers remains very low.
Comparative Population and Taxpayer Data:
– India: over 142 crore people
– USA: 34 crores
– UK: 6.7 crores
– France: 6.4 crores
– Germany: 8.3 crores
Comparing India with developed countries in terms of taxpayers reveals striking figures. While taxpayers in India constitute only 2.2% of the voting population, more than 50% of voters in the US are taxpayers. Similarly, 59.7% of voters in the UK, 61.3% in Germany, and 78.3% in France are taxpayers.
Two Classes of Taxpayers in India
There is significant inequality among taxpayers in India: the top 3% pay almost 50% of the income tax. Indian taxpayers can be broadly categorized into two groups: those who have paid up to Rs 10 lakh in tax and those who have paid more than Rs 10 lakh.
Example of Taxpayer Inequality
In the year 2021-22, about 97% of taxpayers in India paid up to Rs 10 lakh, which accounted for 52.4% of the total tax paid. Conversely, only about 3% of taxpayers paid more than Rs 10 lakh, but this small group contributed 47.6% of the total tax collected.
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