A valuation method that earned Rs 1.8 lakh crore! 

(Oct 8, 2010)

i am requests memegar post

'Effective tax rate - India is one of the highest'!

Well on another measure too, ie personal taxation (Income Tax) versus service provided by India Inc, we are paying one of the highest tax rates, despite all these post 1991 years of window dressing tax slabs, tax rates, rebates etc.

Let me explain; every seemingly 'drastic' reduction in income tax rates or widening the tax slabs which results in 'substtatial' tax-receipts 'foregone, for the benefit of aam admi', the same is offset by imposition of service tax, for a start on a small negative list of 5 times, as the Doctor called it then, at a modest 5% when the Dr started milching this cash cow in 1991 & then the year on year addition of more and more of the so called 'services' to attract service tax. Let us face it, whenever a new service gets included or service-tax rate is increased, the cartel of associated service providers (be it chartered accountants, doctors, lawyers or telcos, pandal contractors or 3-star hotels), they promptly 'revise' their 'fee' upward, often times, using the opportunity to pad a bit of additional profit; eg when the low grade GP doctors were brought on the net, they revised their fee from Rs100 to 150, whereas he only had to pay a 12.5% tax (assuming that ever since he is actually paying the tax!).

Yet, starting from Manmohan Singh thru to Jaswant, Yeshwant Sinha, P Chidambaram and Pranab, no one leaves an opportunity to selectively play it big, to make a big deal of their 'concessions' ie reduction in tax rates or widening slabs and worse still insult us (Indian 'Individual tax payers') saying that we pay much lower than International Income tax rates of say Sweden, Singapore, Canada et al.

Insult? Yes, it has been a sustained insult (heaped by successive FMs) on every tax paying Individual Indian. In those Countries for what they pay, they get State provide, yet best in quality, services by way of roads, education, old-age health care, subsidized accommodation.

Here?! I would like to personally soak every one of those FMs staking such claims in the sewers regularly overflowing after even the smallest shower (in the heart of a major metro and supposedly up-market residential area, where I happen to live) and hang them to dry in full view of fellow tax payers!!

State provided education, health care, accommodation in India - the less said the better - Quality is absent & quantity is awfully inadequate, as the 'funds' earmarked for such 'Yojanas' gets eaten up from the very top all the way down to the end of the pipeline!

The ones who have to use them are seen as the most unfortunate, as everyone seeks these from Private providers at whatever premium individuals can afford to pay, for appropriate acceptable levels of these services, they can afford!!

Yet, CAG reports meticulously every year that thousands of Crores are swindled by politician-babu combine and that this cancer in our system is taking the rest of India for a ride.

Add to it the duplicated Ministries, Yojanas, Departments, to 'cater' for Coalition Dharma, we have large scale swindle by these fortunate few and colossal drain of resources, created from what the Govt robbed from the vast middle class, by way of tax.

The day we convict & sentence to life and sieze the assets of any of those many Chief Ministers and other powerful minions (barring a miniscule minority who value probity in public life) who started pauper 20 years ago and are living in mansions (not the ones provided by State while being a Chief Minister/Minister) in the posh locality of every major City and town and hill station of his/her State, not to mention, acres and acres of land amassed to be cashed by next generations of 'anointed' Chief Ministers (well, there is hardly a choice available in Free India, of such talents anywhere outside such Ministers' families), we shall need a lot lesser money to "Govern" and hence can effect 'real and meaningful' tax cuts.

Till then, annual budget exercise, is just a thamasha to hoodwink the vast middle-class and effectively get them to cough up more to fund the Privileged Party goers of Netha-Babu Combine. Jai Hindustaan!!

If we carefully observe nature we find lot of wisdom there and lot of solutions to our ‘simple but difficult’ problems. A case in point it the Banyan Tree – It takes many years, maybe decades to take root but after, say about 2-3 decades it becomes so solidly deep-rooted that most of the nature’s furies (floods, storms, etc.) fails to shake it. Buffet’s holding of Coca Cola shares for more than 20 years explains it. Most of his wise statements are a result of his careful observation of nature.

It is technically incorrect to compare one's wealth, a measure of lifetime of accumulation, versus GDP, which is just one year's number. However, point about Buffett's serious achievements is well taken.

Tax-rates around the world.

Highly biased chat, in my opinion!
The reader needs to have SIMILAR Graphs, for Annual Income of
1000,000$
10,000$
50,000$
5,000$
etc., which are more relevant for India and respective countries.
We also need NUMBER of such Tax payers in each country and their %-age. (You may use price parity or such equalizing methods for each country.
Statistics can convey biggest bluff, if biased!

Warning given by Mr Deepak Parikh is timely but unfortunately so long as builder lobby & politicians do not take it seriously it is not going to ease the problem.This phenomena happened in 1996 & history will repeat prior to that many commoners will get their fingures burnt ! (Experiance is only the BEST TEACHER)