Indian salary-earners, especially those paying highest per cent of income in taxes have very little voice and aren’t expected to ask for much in return for their tax rupees. Most western countries where I have been a taxpayer for the past couple of decades had complex structures of direct (individual Income) and indirect (sales and service) tax structures, but for this writeup I want to focus on individual income-tax.
In western
societies, the concept of “tax dollars at work” and “accountable to taxpayers”
is taken rather seriously with governance visible and accessible starting at the
lowest levels of government – be it local schools, roads or public health
service. While high net-worth taxpayers aren’t provided special accommodation,
those paying higher taxes do seem to have a greater voice. For example, in the
US, school districts with residents paying higher property tax are better
governed, with facilities commensurate with their budgets that are clearly
visible and accountable to local taxpayers who engage in administering school
boards.
The
accountability at the top of the administration, like a senator or congressman
(equivalent of our MPs and MLAs) is equally transparent and visible. Years ago,
when I had a question on my pending naturalization application, I shot an email
to the local senator, whose aide called me within a few days to say they had
initiated a “congressional inquiry” with the concerned government department.
The aide called me back after a couple of weeks to confirm that my issue was
indeed resolved. These instances of “taxpayer’s dollars at work” are routine
and expected. Now, imagine you sending an email to your local MP or MLA about
an issue, and expecting a response.
Fast forward
to “Digital India” where I now find myself after relocating to be around for
aging parents. After moving back, I took up a global role with a multinational.
For my contribution to the economy, the Income Tax department has been awarding
me with a “Silver Certificate of Appreciation” for the past couple of years. For
those curious, the Government of India, in its infinite wisdom, issues those paying
an annual tax of Rs 1-10 lakh a bronze certificate, and to those
pay between Rs 10-50 lakh a silver-certificate; and those paying
taxes between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore a “gold” one.
I scratch my
head wondering about government services “silver” taxpayers like me can expect
in return for the lakhs I pay in IT, property-tax, and GST. Our son, like
millions of other kids, goes to a private school with no government aid. I
don’t expect to patronize the overstretched public health system, thanks to my
medical insurance and corporate health-package. This leaves the basic public
services that government is expected to provide.
For
instance, after the street in front of my home was dug up for months for some
public drain-work, I sent several tweets, emails and calls to the local
counselor’s office that went unanswered as to be expected. Only an impending
local election miraculously speeded up the work.
And then
there is a matter of a long pending issue with a land registration that my
father had been struggling with. After returning to India, I took over the
matter and filed a Writ Petition in Karnataka’s High Court. It has been nearly
two years since that judgement and the casefile has been stuck in the desk of some
Babu in the state’s revenue department. Several RTI requests have gone into a
black hole. Leave alone the equivalent of a congressional inquiry, I probably must
bribe someone-known-to-someone in the Revenue Department to even get an
appointment to meet a local official, or to know the status of the pending
file.
As a
salaried taxpayer, I cannot avoid or evade lakhs in direct-tax payments to
government coffers. In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, I guess the government officials
expect taxpayers like me to consider direct tax payments to be yet another
“selfless action, as a source of strength.” But quoting Gandhi again, “It is
humanly impossible to be selfless. As a matter of fact, human beings are
inherently selfish.” And that’s perhaps why my expectations of expedient
government service are not unreasonable.
