At a time when most professionals are busy filing income tax returns, a Flipkart employee took to Twitter to share his frustration with paying taxes on both earnings and spendings.
"Today I earned Rs 5,000. I had to give 30 percent to the government as tax. I thought of buying some caffeinated beverages from the remaining money and had to give 28 percent as tax," wrote Sanchit Goyal, a category manager at an e-tailer in Bengaluru, as per his bio on LinkedIn. "I realised I am working 12 hours a day just to pay more than 50 percent of my income to the government."
Today I earned Rs 5000.I had to give 30% to the Government as tax.
I thought of buying some caffeinated beverages from the remaining money & had to give 28% as tax.
I realized I am working 12 hrs a day just to pay 50%+ of my income to the Government. #IncomeTax
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— Sanchit Goyal (@sanchitg14) July 15, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, Goyal said that the government gets 27.5 percent as tax even on chocolate bars worth Rs 20.
Tax earned by Government on Rs 20 choco-bar:18% GST by end customer - Rs 3.6
Calculated on unit economics-
18% on Sugar - Rs 0.36
18% on Cocoa - Rs 0.9
12% on Condensed Milk - Rs 0.6
5% on Cream - 0.1Total #GST earned - Rs 5.5 which is close to 27.5% of the final cost.#tax
— Sanchit Goyal (@sanchitg14) July 18, 2023
The initial tweet, which received more than 5 lakh views, resonated with a number of Twitter users.
"And your blood boils when you know that a great portion of tax revenue is going towards salaries, pensions of government employees, and unnecessary freebies rather than building infrastructure," commented Satish Reddy (@satishv1024).
Another Twitter user Raman (@Ramanaeapgenco) wrote, "This situation will be even worse if you want to play casino." To this, Goyal replied, "I know. The entire risk is mine still I have to pay taxes. Either the government bears the risk with me. If I win I have to pay taxes, if I lose, it's my loss completely."
They were referring to the Centre's decision to impose a 28 percent tax on funds that online gaming companies collect from their customers.
Former Shark Tank India judge and entrepreneur Ashneer Grover too had strongly criticised both the high income tax rate in the country and the newly-imposed tax on online gaming.
"Taxpayers are doing charity in the country. They are not getting any benefits," Grover had earlier tweeted. "You tell me one thing, when know that I will earn Rs 10 and Rs 4 will be kept by the government, out of the 12 months, you are working for the government for five months. Now in your life, how many years you have to be a slave for the government... and we have all accepted the way things are: 'It is the way it is.'"
Earlier this month, he tweeted, "RIP - Real money gaming industry in India. If the government is thinking people will put in Rs 100 to play on Rs 72 pot entry (28 percent gross GST); and if they win Rs 54 (after platform fees), they will pay 30 percent TDS on that -- for which they will get a free swimming pool in their living room the first monsoon - it's not happening!"
"It was good fun being part of the fantasy gaming industry -- which stands murdered now. $10 billion down the drain in this monsoon," Grover said referring to his own company Crickpe which allowed users to create virtual teams of the best in-form real players and earn points depending upon their actual performance.
Read more: Ashneer Grover says his wife is among highest female taxpayers in India
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