Is paying taxes for everything in India affecting you? How do you manage?

I am working as software engineer at FAANG. I pay ~1.25L income tax per month. It pains me a lot. Since being general class male, I never got any benefit from but these govt is looting me. There are many small shopkeeper, landlords, farmers who earn more than me but none of them is paying tax but here I am paying such huge tax like loser. What should I do? Should I move abroad where even though I will still pay 30% tax but still I will have more money than being in India, or should I open a shop like of clothes, or chai?

Alert: a rant post Today I saw my payslip after a long time and WTH! I don't know what they'll take once bonus comes in. Paying this much for no water, bad air, corrupt babus and all those douche things. As much as patriotic I am, this is just insane. On top of this add all the GST and sheet ton of other indirect taxes. Living in India and paying like Europe. Wow!

I recently got a job offer at a well-funded remote startup headquartered in the US as a DevOps engineer. They adjust the salary package to account for the country so I won't be earning in crores... but I wanted to ask people who are in remote positions as to how to negotiate a salary that will be rigid more or less,no options are there to negotiate till a super high margin (maybe 10% max). For example, they are offering 33 LPA currently, does that put me in a higher tax bracket and can I negotiate for a lower compensation so that I can be put in a lower tax bracket, say I ask for 29 LPA and ask for a joining bonus (or HRA) or some restructuring to do that? I don't understand how taxes work in India especially with remote payments but I'm hoping someone can offer the right guidance and resources so that I can look into this in depth later on as well. This is my first ever job and I got it straight out of college, so I do not mind even if they are paying me less than their US counterparts. This salary is more than enough to survive in a tier 2 city (will be shifting back to live with my parents). I don't have much investments right nos, just a couple of FDs and some equity + debt funds along with stocks (mostly banks + chemical companies here and there). I can look into ELSS funds and what not if that can save up some taxes. I am considering talking to a CA about this too. (Note: not comfortable with naming it even if this is an anonymous platform because it has like a strength of 50 and I feel it is irrelevant to the discussion). TIA!

I was doing a tax plan for the next FY. A significant chunk is going off my hard earned money 😔 for which I get 🔔 from govt. I hardly use any public facilities , or can simply say they do not exist and are not up to mark Any Tom and harry comes and starts freebies for his noble cause of votes which tax payers like me are not eligible to be benefitted even if I want to take any . Why the heck I have been taxed so much . Even if you get variable pay this month which was already taxed with TDS and If I invest in MF lumpsum and get some gains . The whole amount will again be taxed that too according to my tax bracket . Although I am not considering indirect taxation which is another curse we all are facing . Is everyone pissed with this tax story or simply ignore and move on to pay more tax and grind more .

Government: You owe us money. It's called taxes. Me: How much do I owe? Gov't: You have to figure that out. Me: I just pay what I want? Gov't: Oh, no we know exactly how much you owe. But you have to guess that number too. Me: What if I get it wrong? Gov't: You go to prison !

So this is something that I have been researching for a while, apart from very well known instruments such as-(only mentioning the ones that should be done by everyone irrespective) * 1.5L annually through 80C * 50k standard deduction * HRA claim * Donation claims * Insurance/Medical claims How are you folks optimising your post tax income? Would really like to hear it from people getting >= 24 LPA fixed, since from this point onwards a major chunk (almost 20% goes in taxes) and it really hurts.

Viners, finally I’m frustrated enough to make a move on building my own business. Just curious about what b2c SaaS would you not mind paying 100 / month for? Preferably in the capital markets / personal finance space?

I am a fresher earning roughly 1 cr post tax. I started investing a little late but I am now consistent with my SIPs which I started at the age of 8 by saving 500 a month of my school bus fare and pooling a ride in my father's car with a step up of 10% every year. There was no driver so that we could save some money and put it in a fixed deposit every year. I stay at my home so that I can save some rent. I don't get the privacy that a fresher looks for because my family is mostly out of the country and I had to get 24 hrs house help. But I am okay with it. Nobody gets everything. Now I am paying around 48 lacs as income tax. What am I doing wrong and how to spend money wisely. And how can I make sure that I get paid according to the market standards and not get exploited by the system. PS: is buying a new iphone 15 worth it as gold plated iphone 15 pro max is very costly.

Bro, you are earning. Shouldn't you just be grateful that you are not born in war torn Afghanistan or disease ridden Africa. I mean life could be so much worse. In fact, the only difference between you and the office boy is the household you were born in. If that office boy was born in your home, he probably would be as successful as you. You already won the lottery. Why not just do your part and pay the income tax so that the tax money can be used to provide a better life to those who are unprivileged. I am not excusing the corruption in the system but just find the cribbing unbearable Just be greatful