‘Ambani, Adani, Tata will shift base to Dubai if inheritance tax’ imposed?
‘Ambani, Adani, Tata will shift base to Dubai if inheritance tax’
imposed?
According to Political economist and author Gautam Sen the very idea to impose a wealth tax in India will lead to the country’s super rich, the Ambanis and the Adanis, shifting their base to Dubai to avoid paying tax.
This comes after PM Modi’s interaction with business leaders Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani in New Delhi.
He further elaborated that the wealthiest individuals in India, such as Ambani, Adani, and Tata, would likely emigrate to tax havens resulting in a substantial loss of wealth for India.
Sen who retired from the London School of Economics and formerly a member of the Indo-UK Roundtable and Senior Consultant at UNDP, offered his insights on the proposal of implementing an inheritance tax in India, drawing comparisons with the United States and discussing its potential impacts on the Indian economy and security.
According to Sen most Indian millionaires who have been leaving the country have gone to Dubai, 70 per cent in fact, because Dubai has no income tax. And they will re-register their businesses in UAE, which means India will only be able to collect corporate taxes from them because their business will remain in India.
Adding that there will be a huge loss of wealth to India. Coming to other countries, Sweden used to have a very significant inheritance tax and it is one of the highest tax countries in the world in history. But Sweden removed the inheritance tax because many of the rich were fleeing. For example, the owner of IKEA had migrated out of Sweden.
Sen cautioned against the implementation of an inheritance tax, warning that it could lead to social and political chaos, as well as vulnerability to foreign military intervention.
He argued that such radical measures could provoke resistance and unrest, creating opportunities for adversaries like China to exploit India’s internal divisions.
India is in the way of China’s total dominance of Asia. India is the one country apart from Japan which is a problem for China because China wants complete dominance in Asia.
At the moment, they have a condominium in the United States. They do not accept even that. They would accept a condominium with the US at a global level. But in Asia, they want to be totally dominant. And India really is the one country that is big enough and potentially prosperous enough to resist this. So they will act. Now, striking against India is a very good time because India is in a phase of transition. But of course, they know Striking against India is not costly. India is militarily quite a tough nut to crack.”
Regarding the current trends in the Indian economy, Sen expressed optimism, highlighting India’s status as the fastest-growing major economy in the world and praising the government’s infrastructure investments.
News Edit K.V.Raman
