“I paid ₹30 lakh in taxes over five years, only to spiral into depression after losing my job, with absolutely no support from the system.” This stark reality, shared by a Bengaluru techie, has ignited a crucial conversation about India’s safety net for its honest taxpayers. Delhi-based engineer Ayush J brought this anonymous ordeal to light on LinkedIn, exposing a deep-seated frustration among India’s salaried class: they feel punished for playing by the rules.
The Unseen Burden of the Salaried Class
Ayush’s post highlights a glaring disparity. While benefits like free electricity, water, rations, and bus rides are often extended to those who pay minimal or no taxes, the salaried professionals, whose taxes are automatically deducted at source, rarely see such advantages. “It almost feels like we’re being punished… for earning well and being honest,” Ayush wrote, perfectly encapsulating the sentiment.
A System That Takes But Doesn’t Give Back
In countries like the U.S., taxpayers can rely on unemployment benefits and social security. But in India, as the techie’s experience shows, contributing lakhs to government coffers offers no such security net. This “आने दो” (let it come) model, as Ayush terms it, suggests a systemic indifference to the struggles of taxpayers while rewarding those who skillfully avoid contributing. It’s a system that, many feel, bleeds them dry in taxes only to abandon them in crisis.
Is Honesty Being Penalized?
The prevalence of small business owners and freelancers openly boasting about tax avoidance in urban India further exacerbates this feeling of injustice for salaried individuals. For them, there’s no preferential treatment, no relief during layoffs, and certainly no recognition—just deductions, paperwork, and deafening silence when things go south.
Ayush’s powerful post has reignited a vital debate about tax fairness, government accountability, and the urgent need for a robust safety net for those who diligently fund the very system that, in their time of need, seems to fail them.