I am a middle class retired pensioner. I have consistently paid taxes. Never have I tried to save taxes by getting benefits of tax saving schemes. I even foot my medical bills and hardly take advantage of CGHS facility as many a times the hassles are demeaning. But then at a point of time I have started wondering how much tax I pay. I infact am one educated believer that taxes are so much important for Governments. And due to last pay-commission, whose beneficiary I am, I admit because of my 35 years of Govenment service, I get a handsome pension considering my fellow brethrens of my underprivileged countrymen. I am thankful to God, our Goverment and Indian society, being probably part of a small percentage of the population. All said and done ours being a democratic country how much our Goverment takes away from me. I believe our incompetent system is to apportion the blame for this. I am listing the taxes I pay:

Income Tax
Property Tax
Service Tax
Value Added Tax
Sales Tax
Road Tax
Excise Duty
Entertainment Tax

There could be others who have a thorough knowledge of our taxation system.

I pay tax when I earn. I pay tax when I spend.

I do not know what a genuine taxpayer shells out from his/ her pocket. I do not know whether there has been a genuine research on the subject. I wonder whether in a democratic country should there not be genuine researches including statistical analysis with regard to a healthy taxing level of a bonafide system!

We read in history books that when kings ruled, sometimes royal taxation where harsh to the extent many people were reduced to penury and even ruin. I am just curious to know if taxation system in a democratic country is far better, how much better it is. Thousands of people who are in the business of feeding their countrymen unfortunately commit suicide.

My writing this blog is an attempt to make people think and think of simple but more foolproof taxation system. I for one like a small percentage of our countrymen try to sit through our finance minister's budget speech and make sense of it unlike the large majority who just go through the news headlines in the media and judge the existing Goverment without making head and tail of the speech, only thinking of his or her pocket.