Over ** million income tax returns were filed in India in the assessment year 2024. There were over ** million taxpayers in the income group of *** thousand to *** thousand Indian rupees, the highest across all other income categories.

Over ** million income tax returns (ITRs) were filed in the assessment year 2024 in India. It was estimated to increase to over ** million in the year 2025. The number of income taxpayers has more than doubled since 2014.

By the financial year 2022, **** percent of the income group of up to *** thousand Indian rupees left the lower strata. There was over ***** percent growth in the income tax filing population in the group of *** thousand to *** million income.

Key information about India Tax revenue: % of GDP

• India Tax revenue: % of GDP was reported at 6.8 % in Dec 2024.
• This records a decrease from the previous number of 9.1 % for Sep 2024.
• India Tax revenue: % of GDP data is updated quarterly, averaging 7.4 % from Jun 1997 to Dec 2024, with 111 observations.
• The data reached an all-time high of 10.8 % in Mar 2015 and a record low of 3.0 % in Jun 2003.
• India Tax revenue: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by CEIC Data.
• The data is categorized under World Trend Plus’s Global Economic Monitor – Table: Tax Revenue: % of Nominal GDP: Quarterly.

CEIC calculates quarterly Tax Revenue as % of Nominal GDP from monthly Tax Revenue and quarterly Nominal GDP. The Controller General of Accounts provides Tax Revenue in local currency. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation provides Nominal GDP in local currency based on SNA 2008. Tax Revenue covers Central Government only. Nominal GDP prior to Q2 2011 is based on a combination of SNA 2008 and SNA 1993, at 2004-2005 prices and prior to Q2 2004 is based on SNA 1993, at 1999-2000 prices.

As of July 2020, the state of Maharashtra housed the largest population of GST taxpayers in India amounting to about 1.56 million in number. The overall size of the GST taxpaying population in India that year tallied approximately 12.38 million. The GST was introduced by the Indian government on July 1, 2017 as a singular indirect tax on the supply of goods and services which replaced most of the existing indirect taxes levied in the country.

In the financial year 2022, the share of zero tax liability in total income tax returns declined to ** percent from around ** percent in the financial year 2011. Zero-tax liability returns mean that an individual’s taxable income falls below the basic exemption limit and they are not liable to pay any tax.

At the end of 2024, the number of entities liable to pay the goods and services tax in India under the "normal taxpayer" category consisted of more than 13 million taxpayers. Overall, there were over 14 million registered GST taxpayers during this time. The GST was introduced by the Indian government on July 1, 2017, as a singular indirect tax on the supply of goods and services, which replaced most of the existing indirect taxes levied in the country. GST structure While the GST is paid by consumers, it is conveyed to the government by the businesses providing the goods and services. Currently, GST has a tier tax structure of 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent, and 28 percent, with some exceptions for gold and real estate. Items such as food, education, and healthcare are exempt from GST. Luxury items and comfort goods are categorized under higher slabs, whereas necessities are included in lower and nil slab rates. The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) provides a single interface for taxpayers and governments. The system provides processes like registration, filing of returns, and tax payments, online. Impact on the economy GST implementation has proved to be beneficial on various fronts. These include higher revenues, uniformity in taxation, increased transparency, elimination of cascading taxes, online process, and efficient logistics and distribution system. As the GST gains wider acceptance, it is slowly leading to the formalization of the Indian economy.

As per Indian Union Budget estimates for financial year 2023, direct taxes accounted for **** percent and indirect taxes accounted for **** percent of total central tax collection in India. The source mentions that due to a cut in the corporate tax rate in 2019 and an increase in excise duty in financial year 2021, the share of direct taxes witnessed a fall following 2019. In a progressive tax system, the share of direct taxes is higher than indirect taxes.

In the 3 years to March 2021, black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of under £600.

In the financial year 2021, a majority of Indian households fell under the aspirers category, earning between ******* and ******* Indian rupees a year. On the other hand, about ***** percent of households that same year, accounted for the rich, earning over * million rupees annually. The middle class more than doubled that year compared to ** percent in financial year 2005. Middle-class income group and the COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic specifically during the lockdown in March 2020, loss of incomes hit the entire household income spectrum. However, research showed the severest affected groups were the upper middle- and middle-class income brackets. In addition, unemployment rates were rampant nationwide that further lead to a dismally low GDP. Despite job recoveries over the last few months, improvement in incomes were insignificant. Economic inequality While India maybe one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it is also one of the most vulnerable and severely afflicted economies in terms of economic inequality. The vast discrepancy between the rich and poor has been prominent since the last ***** decades. The rich continue to grow richer at a faster pace while the impoverished struggle more than ever before to earn a minimum wage. The widening gaps in the economic structure affect women and children the most. This is a call for reinforcement in in the country’s social structure that emphasizes access to quality education and universal healthcare services.

75% of households from the Bangladeshi ethnic group were in the 2 lowest income quintiles (after housing costs were deducted) between April 2021 and March 2024.

The global population has grown rapidly since 1950, from *** billion to over eight billion in 2023. The age distribution shows that the number of people within all age groups increased over the period, with the two youngest age groups being the largest in 2023. Population growth driven by development in Asia The increasing global population is explained by economic development and a coinciding improvement in living conditions in several parts of the world, particularly in Asia. Improvements in sanitary conditions, the rollout of vaccination programs, and better medical treatment brought down death rates around the world. China saw fast economic development from the early 1980s to the late 2010s, going hand in hand with a rapidly increasing population. Furthermore, the population of India has grown rapidly since it gained independence from the British Empire in the late 1940s, now being the largest in the world. Most of the future population growth will happen in Africa The global population is forecast to continue to increase over the coming decades, set to reach over 10 billion people by 2060. Most of this increase is projected to occur on the African continent, as many African countries are expected to experience an improvement in living standards. In 2022, over ** percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa was below 15 years old.

As of 2022, the top 10 percent Indian population group in terms of pre-tax income was estimated to hold over ** percent of total income in India, whereas the bottom ** percent group only made up just over ** percent of total income. This reflected an even greater income gap compared to 2000.

India’s per capita net national income or NNI was around *** thousand rupees in financial year 2025. The annual growth rate was *** percent as compared to the previous year. National income indicators   While GNI (Gross National Income) and NNI are both indicators for a country’s economic performance and welfare, the GNI is related to the GDP plus the net receipts from abroad, including wages and salaries, property income, net taxes and subsidies receivable from abroad. On the other hand, the NNI of a country is equal to its GNI net of depreciation. In 2020, India ranked second amongst the Asia Pacific countries in terms of its gross national income. This has been possible due to a favorable GDP growth in India. Measuring wealth versus welfare   National income per person or per capita is often used as an indicator of people's standard of living and welfare. However, critics object to this by citing that since it is a mean value, it does not reflect the real income distribution. In other words, a small wealthy class of people in the country can skew the per capita income substantially, even though the average population has no change in income. This is exemplified by the fact that in India, the top one percent of people, control over 40 percent of the country’s wealth.