Sam Pitroda, who is a close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, today said that an inheritance tax would be an interesting idea. Speaking to ANI, here is what he said: "If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45% to his children. The rest 55% is grabbed by the government under the inheritance tax. In India, you don't have that. If somebody is worth 10 billion and he dies, his children get 10 billion and the public gets nothing."
The proposal is controversial and scary. While Pitroda claimed that the US has this tax in force, the fact of the matter is that only six States have accepted the tax with riders. "The US does NOT have federal Inheritance tax. Some states do. None of them impose a 55% tax," wrote Ajay Rotti.
Already, the Congress party has plans to increase income tax for salaried middle-classes and also do a wealth survey for the entire country if it comes to power. "You pay 40% income tax, then after ‘wealth survey’ half your wealth will be taken away and then when you die another 55% will be taken away. I hope the percentages are only of the residual value - otherwise we will all have to take a loan before dying," securities lawyer Sandeep Pravin Parekh wrote.
The BJP will now project Sam Pitroda's proposal as a sign that the Congress wants to legalize plunder by the government.
