Modi Govt Tax Cuts: Congress Alleges Big Billionaires Benefit, Middle Class Burdened

New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) Big billionaires and corporations got tax cuts from the Modi government while the salaried and middle classes and workers pay ever-higher income taxes, the Congress alleged on Saturday.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said even small businesses such as proprietorships and partnerships pay income tax and not corporate tax.

"In Modi's 'Anyay Kaal', 21 billionaires and huge corporations get tax cuts while the salaried professionals, middle-class, and workers pay ever-higher income taxes," he said in a post on X.

He further said, "A simple picture tells the whole story -- when Dr Manmohan Singh left office, personal income tax was 21 per cent of total tax collections while corporate tax was 35 per cent."

Then, two days before the "Howdy Modi" event, the Centre announced huge corporate tax cuts, costing the exchequer Rs 2 lakh crore, Ramesh alleged.

Today, the share of corporate tax of the total tax collection has dropped sharply to its lowest level in a decade to just 27.1 per cent, he claimed.

Meanwhile, the share of personal income tax in the total tax collection has shot up to 27.4 per cent, he added.

"Without a private investment boom, GDP growth simply cannot accelerate. The finance minister claimed that these corporate handouts would kick off such a boom -- instead, private investment has collapsed, from a peak of 35 per cent of GDP under Dr Manmohan Singh, to below 29 per cent for the entire Modi sarkar tenure," Ramesh alleged in his post.

"Note that while corporate taxes have been cut, it is only mega-corporations and the 21 billionaires of India who benefit. Small businesses like proprietorships and partnerships pay income tax, not corporate tax," Ramesh added.

He also shared a graph to compare the tenures of the Narendra Modi government and the Manmohan Singh government to highlight the rise in personal income tax collections as a percentage of the total tax collected and the decline in corporate tax collections.