Amid debate about inheritance tax, rising share of personal income tax and indirect tax remains a concern [Video]

Over the last week, during the election campaign, the Congress’ manifesto and the party’s emphasis on social justice and welfare were suddenly thrust into the limelight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to give the Congress’ demand for a caste census and its plans to study distribution of surplus government land to the poor, among others, a communal turn. The Congress defended its manifesto saying the rising wealth inequality in the country needs to be addressed and dismissed Mr. Modi’s claims that its plans intended to favour a particular religious group. In the midst of this political controversy, the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda, floated the idea of an inheritance tax, which is not in place in India and is also not mentioned in the Congress’ manifesto.

Almost concurrently, as this political debate was playing out, the Finance Ministry released provisional data that showed an uptick in net tax collections. This is mostly driven by …