Over the last few years, the small individual income taxpayer has been paying more tax than the corporates, and the difference has been increasing every year. In 2024-25, the government collected Rs 12.57 lakh crore through taxes on income, a tax primarily on the income of individuals. This was 28 percent more than the Rs 9.8 lakh crore of corporate taxes (income tax on the profits accruing to corporates) collected. In the current financial year, this difference is estimated to increase to 33 percent. The ratio of taxes on individual income to corporate tax was 72 per cent in 2016-17. In 2024-25, this had increased to 128 per cent, implying that the salaried taxpayer is paying more tax than big business. In 2016-17, taxes on income amounted to 2.3 percent of the GDP. By 2024-25 they had jumped to 3.8 percent of the GDP. Conversely, the corporate tax which was at 3.2 percent of the GDP in 2016-17 has largely remained flat at around 3 percent over the last few years courtesy the various concessions extended to big business houses.
