India Uncut
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Monday, September 18, 2006
Sania Mirza wants your money
If you're a taxpayer to the government of India, as I am, Sania Mirza wants some of what's leaving your wallet. The lady has just applied to the government of Andhra Pradesh, asking it "to allot land for setting up a tennis academy." We are informed that "[t]he government had already given her more than Rs 1 crore and a 500 square yard site in Jubilee Hills."
I find this spending preposterous. As I'd written here, we need to realise that government money is our money, and government spending is not a trivial thing, and must be taken seriously. When you consider the percentage of one's income that taxes represent, we are effectively working four months of the year for the government: that's what just our income tax comes to. All the other indirect taxes we then pay, such as every time we buy anything, probably add up to a few more weeks.
And it's not just you and me: our maidservant, our building chowkidaar, the paanwaala on the road, the taxi driver: all these people are also burdened by all kinds of indirect taxes, even if they never actually file tax returns. And it sickens me that Sania Mirza, who earns in crores from endorsements alone, should ask for some of that money. She is a fine sportswoman, but this is disgraceful behaviour.
(Also see -- Where your taxes go: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
I find this spending preposterous. As I'd written here, we need to realise that government money is our money, and government spending is not a trivial thing, and must be taken seriously. When you consider the percentage of one's income that taxes represent, we are effectively working four months of the year for the government: that's what just our income tax comes to. All the other indirect taxes we then pay, such as every time we buy anything, probably add up to a few more weeks.
And it's not just you and me: our maidservant, our building chowkidaar, the paanwaala on the road, the taxi driver: all these people are also burdened by all kinds of indirect taxes, even if they never actually file tax returns. And it sickens me that Sania Mirza, who earns in crores from endorsements alone, should ask for some of that money. She is a fine sportswoman, but this is disgraceful behaviour.
(Also see -- Where your taxes go: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
