Tax Paying Indians!

Imagine, one day, all the eligible Indians decide to pay their income tax. Wow, writing the above sentence filled my heart with happiness and my brain with shock. The income tax website will crash due to a heavy load at short notice. Within a few hours, the Income Tax department will go from surprise to panic mode to handle the situation. All the Indian IT companies supporting the website and other tax-related works will raise major incidents (emergency failures) to fix the issues they never imagined or tested.

All the schools, colleges, offices, and shops will look deserted as many will be busy filing taxes. There would be traffic on the road for those rushing to pay their tax through consultants, CAs, and agents. The transport department across the country will be in action to handle the congestion. All the chartered accountants will have to set up tents outside their offices to accommodate the crowd. Quick on their feet, Chaiwallas would set up tea stalls for prospective customers. The media will have a field day reporting it. The Digital and telecom departments would work in full swing to ensure excellent connectivity to support the filing process. The bittersweet Finance and Economics departments would face the worst day of work. But since paying taxes is next to godliness, no one will object.

Like the 'true' Indians we are, we will fight for every rupee to pay less tax. And so, financial advisers and LIC agents would be reached out to make last-minute Tax saving investments. That will result in the Indian stock market breaking all the records. Suddenly India would be the top country in the world with the highest number of Tax Payers. The listed companies would have a windfall gain. The opportunist CEOs of these companies will jump to make the most of the short-term gain. Some would haste to pay their debts and clean their account books. Some would improve their facilities, while others might stack raw materials. The last one would burden the supply chain industry as many will be busy paying their taxes. This way entire country will be standstill. We would see a Tax-lockdown situation along the lines of COVID-lockdown. What a dream, Aditi ??

A humble taxpayer can get an entire country to its knees. The tax money will bring prospects to the individual, the country, and the world. The honest and kanjoos Indian in us will ensure to pay as little as possible fighting our grounds. But even with that money, the government would run the country well. It will increase our trust in the governance. That will put pressure on the government bodies to deliver. It will create jobs in all the sectors taking millions above the poverty line. It will also ensure youths work in their areas of interest without compromising their salaries. And if all the corrupt Indians have a change of heart and decide to move all the black money stashed in Swiss banks to India, we will be the golden bird again. Given our core nature of 'Live and Let Live,' we will be able to help more and more people across the globe.

It will be catastrophic if the small number of Indians paying taxes today decide not to pay anything. And since government subsidies would have limited funds, poor people will suffer the most. The little fund left off will be required to protect the country and critical departments. There will be no further developments due to lack of funds. Millions will be out of jobs as companies and institutes will not get loans from the bank. The market will be down, as people will hold their money for emergencies instead of investing. The cost of living will not be a crisis but a matter of life and death for many. We will not lend a helping hand to anyone in the world. The entire country will be at a standstill, which is no-ones interest.

I firmly believe that only Indians can take our country from dust to the pinnacle of success and reverse. No country, government, or organization has the courage, capability, and willpower to do it. So let's vow to pay our taxes on time. It is in our and the world's best interest. As Indians, let us live and let live.