According to official data provided by the government, the elite “₹100-crore salary club” in the fiscal year of 2021-22 witnessed a significant surge, with sixteen taxpayers reporting annual incomes surpassing ₹100 crore. This marks a notable doubling in the number of individuals belonging to this ultra-high-earning category, compared to the previous fiscal year, which had eight such members.
It is particularly intriguing to note that, during the 2021-22 assessment year, the total collective salary income of these sixteen individuals amounted to a sum exceeding ₹2,569 crore. This translated to an impressive average annual income of ₹160.57 crore per person.
Despite this noteworthy expansion in the ₹100-crore salary club, it is worth mentioning that the overall count of such high-earning individuals in the fiscal year 2021-22 was still less than the record-breaking figure of 20 super salary earners registered during the 2019-20 assessment year.
The cumulative salary income of all individual taxpayers throughout the 2021-22 assessment year stood at ₹24.57 lakh crore. This figure represents roughly one-third of the total income generated from all income categories, encompassing property, business, long-term capital gains, and various other sources, which amounted to ₹74.45 lakh crore. It’s important to clarify that an assessment year reflects the income earned in the preceding financial year.
Analyzing the time series data from the period between the 2013-14 and 2021-22 assessment years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) reported a noticeable declining trend in the proportionate contribution of the gross total income derived from the top 1% of individual taxpayers in comparison to the overall income of all individual taxpayers. This trend indicates a shift in the distribution of income among the taxpayer population.
Furthermore, the income-tax return statistics for the 2021-22 fiscal year were extracted from electronically filed returns recorded in the system until March 31. Each income-tax return (ITR) represents a prescribed form that individuals employ to report their income details and tax payments to the income-tax department for a specific financial year. CBDT, operating under the purview of the finance ministry, is the responsible body for compiling and analyzing these income tax statistics.
Out of a total of 67.5 million ITRs filed during the assessment year 2021-22, encompassing a total gross income of ₹69.6 lakh crore, 589 assesses reported a total income exceeding ₹500 crore, yielding an impressive combined gross total income of ₹13 lakh crore.
The purpose of releasing these income tax statistics is to promote the broader use and analysis of income tax data, both among government officials and academicians. It is noteworthy that in cases where multiple returns were submitted by the same taxpayer, the latest return values were considered. Additionally, inconsistent data entries were eliminated from the analysis. In the case of assessment year 2021-22, a total of 67.6 million electronically filed returns underwent a consistency check, with 67.5 million returns conforming to the consistency rules being utilized for statistical analysis.
It is imperative to recognize that the accuracy of these statistics is inherently limited by the precision of the information provided in the tax returns. The values related to sources of income have been derived from electronically filed returns and those captured from paper returns, potentially containing data entry errors originating from the taxpayers. Hence, it is critical to consider these factors when interpreting and evaluating the data’s reliability.
In summary, the revelation of the exponential growth in the ₹100-crore salary club is indicative of evolving income patterns among high-earning individuals, while simultaneously reflecting the shifting dynamics of wealth distribution within the Indian taxpayer landscape.
