Indicating the growing income of people of Karnataka, official data shows that the state has contributed 9% of the total Rs 6.96 lakh crore direct taxes in 2014-15.
The data on the income tax of the last 16 years, released by the Centre on Friday, puts Karnataka in third place, behind Maharashtra (40%) and Delhi (13%). Karnataka’s share was Rs 60,595.22 crore in 2014-15 when the total direct tax collection was Rs 6.96 lakh crore.
In 2013-14, the state paid Rs 59,769.8 crore when the all India-wide direct tax collection was at Rs 6.38 lakh crore. The data for 2015-16 is not available. Karnataka has been one of the states posting highest economic growth in the past decade with the software industry being one of the main pillars of its growth.
Karnataka stands first among all the states of India in terms of revenue generated from software exports. But in another startling revelation, the data showed share of direct taxes in Indian economy fell to 5.47% in 2015-16, the lowest in almost a decade. It showed that the direct taxes accounted for only 51% of total taxes collected last year. It was 56% in 2014-15.
Worse, only 2.9 crore people filed income tax returns in 2012-13. This was a little over 2% of India’s population of 120 crore. Only six people declared an average income of Rs 68.72 crore in 2012-13.
The government said it released the data on popular demand by economists and India watchers. “Our government has taken the landmark decision of publishing the income tax data. It is a big step towards transparency & informed policy making.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
PTI