Ashneer Grover’s dig at Sam Pitroda? ’Taxpayers are meaningless minority…’
Ashneer Grover said that taxpayers are the “meaningless minority” during elections as he commented on the speeches made at political rallies. The former Shark Tank India judge said that politicians can get away with anything that they say on tax in political rallies as only 0.5 percent of the voters pay “any meaningful income tax.”
Calling this “tax politics” in India, Ashneer Grover wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “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.”
Read Ashneer Grover’s post here
Did Ashneer Grover take a jibe at Congress’ Sam Pitroda?
Ashneer Grover did not name any politician in the post but his comments amid a controversy surrounding remarks on inheritance tax made by Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda who called the levy 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,” Sam Pitroda said.
Ashneer Grover’s earlier comments on taxpayers and tax system in India
Earlier Ashneer Grover said that India has a complicated tax system with the government taking away 30-40 per cent of the income without any benefits.
He then said, “Taxpayers are doing charity in the country. They are not getting any benefits. You tell me one thing, when know that I will earn ₹10 and ₹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.’”