BJP leader Subramanian Swamy says, "The Indian economy is among the top three in the world when looked at from purchasing power parity perspective".

New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today recommended that “the government should abolish Income tax” altogether. This move, he felt, should be among the first things that the government should do if re-elected for another term. The logic was simple. “People engaged in the agriculture sector were already not paying taxes. In the urban sector, the very poor don’t pay Income tax. And the very rich have chartered accountants, so they pay very little tax. It’s really the middle class or the working class who have fixed salaries who pay. And it’s a matter of harassment for them.”

Income tax abolition would serve another purpose

“The Indian economy is among the top three in the world when looked at from purchasing power parity perspective, after that of China and United States. We have been maintaining a growth rate of over 7% but in my opinion, that’s not enough. It should be 10% or more.”

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The BJP MP said, “People think that this is ambitious. But in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, people thought 3.5% was the maximum we could achieve. It was called the Hindu rate of growth; actually, it should have been called the ‘Communist rate of growth’. We had adopted the Soviet economic model which was an utter failure.” Swamy credited the governments of Chandrashekhar and even more so that of PV Narasimha Rao to have changed tracks.

“Thanks to Prime Minister Narasimha Rao who had the courage to bring about a change in state ownership of property and deregulation that took place. That led to growth rates of 7-8% level.”

However, that was in the past. “Now to get to the 10% growth rate, we need something more radical. The issue no longer is deregulation but what we can do to incentivise people. I believe this tax reduction and freebies are not enough. That still requires you to fill forms.” Clearly, he indicated, a riddance of Income tax could now serve as the next impetus.

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On a question whether he would be elected the finance minister if the government were to come back to power, Subramanian Swamy side-stepped the issue and avoided giving a direct response. He simply said that he expects nothing whatsoever and is happy with whatever comes his way. And that these things have more to do with ‘prarabhdha’ (destiny).