We all generally wonder and ponder as to how many taxes we pay and contribute towards nation building, but what do we get back from the nation?
We also generally hear people complain how public money is misused.
Well, we tried to find an answer to these questions to a certain extent. Let’s see as to what we concluded.
We know this is a difficult assumption, but let’s start with this assumption to get some perspective, “keeping all things equal and contribution +benefit from each citizen is same”
“For simplicity, we shall only analyse contribution to and spending from the Union Government and ignore the state government spending”
? How much does Union of India spend on each of its citizen on an average?
A Rs. 12,805/- per annum
? How much does an Indian citizen contribute in terms of taxes (direct and indirect) on an average to Union of India (excluding only Corporate Tax but including Individual Income Tax, Excise and Customs Duty)?
A Rs.7,377/- per annum
? How much does the federal government of United States of America spend on each of its citizen on an average?
A Rs.6,81,659/- (!!!!! Phew!!!!!!)
? How much does an American citizen contribute in terms of taxes (direct and indirect) on an average to his Federal Government?
A Rs.4,52,199/- per annum (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a bigger Phew!!!!!!!!!!!)
Well this single observation puts a thought in our minds that we produce less > we contribute lesser to our union in terms of taxes > we get back lesser compared to what a citizen in a developed country would get back. But the gap is too high which we need to bridge almost 50 to 60 times!!!
At this juncture we would like to bring in a famous quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr of United States, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society …”
Well to elaborate, we pay taxes to stay in a democracy, to be able to exercise our franchise, to carry out any business we wish to, to be protected by an army against external enemies, to get educated in the field of our choice, to be protected by a court of law against any fraud, to be protected against extortions, to practice the religion of our choice, to have freedom of speech, to speak in the language of our choice and many more. Well it certainly is a great gift to live in a democracy and the price we pay for it looks certainly reasonable (of course with the above assumption that on an average everyone contributes equally)
Even though we have the gift of democracy, we still deserve to get much better facilities like our developed counterparts. But as of today, India is tied up with loans and subsidies.
? How much loan has Indian Government taken on an average against a single citizen?
A Rs.45,920 till September 2014
? How much Interest does Indian Government pay in a year?
A Rs.3,486 (average per citizen). Well about 24% of the total spending goes into paying interest!!!!
? How much does Indian Government spend on defense department in a year?
A Rs.1,870 (average per citizen). So, about 13% of the total spending goes in to protect you!!!
? How much does Indian Government spend on subsidies in a year?
A Rs.2,128 (average per citizen). 14.52% of the total spending goes in to subsidies (from fertilizer, food security, to diesel, kerosene, natural gas)!!! Government pays about Rs.518/- per person on diesel, kerosene and natural gas subsidy.
In conclusion, we would like to state that ideally price payable for a civilized society is really difficult to value, but objectively, Indian government could do much better in terms of spending its limited resources effectively. For example, the person intended to benefit from subsidy complains that he doesn’t get his right and the others complain that their tax money is going to benefit someone else.
We wish that the government comes up with more prudent spending policies which build a nation. Education, scientific research, innovation, entrepreneurship, women empowerment and health are the areas we request the elected government to spend most of its resources.
We also wish that the government follows a simple Asian father’s teaching that do not spend more than your means. Thereby, the huge loans and interest burden gets lessened.
This is the budget time. Do let us know your thoughts and wishes.
Thanks for a patient reading.
Team – Pozitiv Partners
(Disclaimer: All the data points are taken from Government Websites. This article is for a general reading and our opinion. The reader is requested to reach any decision or conclusion after verifying and satisfying herself)
We also generally hear people complain how public money is misused.
Well, we tried to find an answer to these questions to a certain extent. Let’s see as to what we concluded.
We know this is a difficult assumption, but let’s start with this assumption to get some perspective, “keeping all things equal and contribution +benefit from each citizen is same”
“For simplicity, we shall only analyse contribution to and spending from the Union Government and ignore the state government spending”
? How much does Union of India spend on each of its citizen on an average?
A Rs. 12,805/- per annum
? How much does an Indian citizen contribute in terms of taxes (direct and indirect) on an average to Union of India (excluding only Corporate Tax but including Individual Income Tax, Excise and Customs Duty)?
A Rs.7,377/- per annum
? How much does the federal government of United States of America spend on each of its citizen on an average?
A Rs.6,81,659/- (!!!!! Phew!!!!!!)
? How much does an American citizen contribute in terms of taxes (direct and indirect) on an average to his Federal Government?
A Rs.4,52,199/- per annum (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a bigger Phew!!!!!!!!!!!)
Well this single observation puts a thought in our minds that we produce less > we contribute lesser to our union in terms of taxes > we get back lesser compared to what a citizen in a developed country would get back. But the gap is too high which we need to bridge almost 50 to 60 times!!!
At this juncture we would like to bring in a famous quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr of United States, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society …”
Well to elaborate, we pay taxes to stay in a democracy, to be able to exercise our franchise, to carry out any business we wish to, to be protected by an army against external enemies, to get educated in the field of our choice, to be protected by a court of law against any fraud, to be protected against extortions, to practice the religion of our choice, to have freedom of speech, to speak in the language of our choice and many more. Well it certainly is a great gift to live in a democracy and the price we pay for it looks certainly reasonable (of course with the above assumption that on an average everyone contributes equally)
Even though we have the gift of democracy, we still deserve to get much better facilities like our developed counterparts. But as of today, India is tied up with loans and subsidies.
? How much loan has Indian Government taken on an average against a single citizen?
A Rs.45,920 till September 2014
? How much Interest does Indian Government pay in a year?
A Rs.3,486 (average per citizen). Well about 24% of the total spending goes into paying interest!!!!
? How much does Indian Government spend on defense department in a year?
A Rs.1,870 (average per citizen). So, about 13% of the total spending goes in to protect you!!!
? How much does Indian Government spend on subsidies in a year?
A Rs.2,128 (average per citizen). 14.52% of the total spending goes in to subsidies (from fertilizer, food security, to diesel, kerosene, natural gas)!!! Government pays about Rs.518/- per person on diesel, kerosene and natural gas subsidy.
In conclusion, we would like to state that ideally price payable for a civilized society is really difficult to value, but objectively, Indian government could do much better in terms of spending its limited resources effectively. For example, the person intended to benefit from subsidy complains that he doesn’t get his right and the others complain that their tax money is going to benefit someone else.
We wish that the government comes up with more prudent spending policies which build a nation. Education, scientific research, innovation, entrepreneurship, women empowerment and health are the areas we request the elected government to spend most of its resources.
We also wish that the government follows a simple Asian father’s teaching that do not spend more than your means. Thereby, the huge loans and interest burden gets lessened.
This is the budget time. Do let us know your thoughts and wishes.
Thanks for a patient reading.
Team – Pozitiv Partners
(Disclaimer: All the data points are taken from Government Websites. This article is for a general reading and our opinion. The reader is requested to reach any decision or conclusion after verifying and satisfying herself)
