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American woman talks about ‘insane tax burden on Indians,’ says NRIs should pay tax too
An American woman living in Bengaluru has suggested taxing non-resident Indians to reduce the burden on resident Indians.
An American woman living in Bengaluru has suggested taxing non-resident Indians to reduce the burden on resident Indians. Dana Marie offered the controversial suggestion in a post shared on the Meta-owned microblogging platform Threads this afternoon.
The American expat spoke about the “insane tax burden” on Indians, saying that some Indians want to move out of the country just to avoid paying high taxes.
“NRIs should pay taxes”
Dana suggested a solution to the problem of high taxation, writing: “NRI's living abroad should pay taxes.”
She claimed that NRIs paying tax in India would transform the country while preventing brain drain. The American woman, who has spent the last few years living in India, also spoke about the high tax burden on resident Indians.
“It would completely change India. Not only because of the increased tax revenue, but it might encourage some of India's best talent to work or start businesses here in India instead of abroad,” she wrote on Threads.
“It might also reduce the insane tax burden on Indian residents. Some of whom are contemplating a move overseas solely to reduce their tax rates,” Marie added.
She concluded her post by saying she was not suggesting that NRIs pay taxes equal to Indians, but that they pay at least something.
Her suggestion proved controversial on the social media platform, receiving a ton of contradictory takes.
“The purpose of direct taxes like income tax is to contribute toward the infrastructure, public services, and governance of the country where one resides and benefits from. NRIs, by definition, do not reside in India and do not use these services daily, so expecting them to pay income tax makes little sense,” one user pointed out.
“NRIs will just never come to India back if India tax them,” another said.
An NRI named Mitesh Aswani, based in Dubai, said that NRIs already contribute towards India’s development. “We already do, thru NRO funds, thru property and sales taxes, taxation on investments done in India…You can't even imagine the amount of funds and economy NRIs bring into India. Ignorant much?” he wrote.
