Inheritance tax row: Sitharaman says 'will go back to era when Congress…'

The senior BJP leader stated that the inheritance tax directly hits the middle and aspirational classes as their hard work is saved in small savings from which they buy a house. "All this is going to be exposed to the so-called property tax," she told media persons.

"It (Inheritance Tax) directly hits the middle class and aspirational class. They work hard, sweat and toil of theirs are saved in small savings here and there, or they buy a house, and keep some fixed deposits," the minister said.

"If such wealth creators are going to be punished purely because they have some money kept behind, India's progress in the last ten years would just go for a zero. And we'll probably be going back to that era when Congress imposed a 90% tax," she added.

Sitharaman asserted that Congress is comfortable with 'socialist model', charging that Indians paid 90% of all that was earned as tax under the grand old party's rule in the country. 

"In 1968, there was a compulsory deposit scheme where people's deposits were all 18% or 20%. Something was taken away. There was no justification given at that time…," she recalled. 

Sam Pitroda's inheritance tax remark

Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda, said  during a TV debate, "If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45 percent to his children, 55 percent is grabbed by the government." This sparked a debate with the BJP latching on to it.

"That's an interesting law. It says you in your generation, made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," he said. 

However, the Congress has distanced itself from the controversial remark. Pitroda himself has come out with a clarification. "Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said some thing like this should be done in India? Why is BJP and media in panic?"

"I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts ? I said these are the kind of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with policy of any party including congress," he explained. 

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Published: 26 Apr 2024, 09:27 AM IST