India has one of the most unequal wealth distributions in the world. The annual Global Wealth Report indicates that wealth inequality in India is only slightly below Russia, which is widely recognised to be the most unequal. Data shows that the richest are paying a falling share of the income taxes. The inability to tax high net worth individuals – or to collect corporation tax from profitable companies as expected – in turn means that the government has turned to relying more and more on indirect taxation which is much more regressive and puts the burden of raising fiscal resources onto common people.

* This article was originally published in the Business Line on November 5, 2018.