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How does one go figuring out income levels? India has such a poor tax base just 2%[1] of people pay taxes. > If nearly 300m Indians count as “middle class”, as
by itissid 9y ago
How does one go figuring out income levels? India has such a poor tax base just 2%[1] of people pay taxes.
> If nearly 300m Indians count as “middle class”, as HSBC has proclaimed, some of them make around $3 a day.
Then, I would be curious to know how one accurately is someone "measuring" what a middle class is since only 2% of the population sample is available.
[1]https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/03/22/517965630/why-do-so-few-people-pay-income-tax-in-india https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/03/22/517965630/...
- statguy 9y agoThere are other ways of arriving at it, apart from tax-filings, such as cars/electronics/consumer goods purchased.
- itissid 9y agoIt is hard though Car owner ship is < 2% in india[1] And Cars is probably the second most expensive asset after a home (assuming stock and bonds are not really owned by that many people). [1] https://www.fastcompany.com/40422065/inside-indias-plans-to-leapfrog-the-western-model-of-car-ownership https://www.fastcompany.com/40422065/inside-indias-plans-to-...
- geodel 9y agoThere is a disconnect between hard economic data that NPR talks about and media/marketers/financial analysts like HSBC talk. So a person hustling wares on a moped for 12 hrs a day, making $2-3K per annum is poor enough to not file for income tax. But for media hype generators if that person ate out at McDonalds on his kid's birthday, he would be the face of new, confident, aspirational middle class who enjoys international cuisines.