Govt doing sub-optimal job with tax money: Shaw

Europe's wealthy have asked to be taxed more, but a top Indian technocrat has put question marks over the ability of the government in India doing a good job with such funds if a law was passed in this regard.

"My view on taxation levels in India is that it is at a reasonable level and I think what is more important is how the government uses taxpayers' money," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, India's largest biotech company by revenue, in an interview to PTI here.

"There is little confidence in this as the government is perceived to be doing a sub-optimal job. I would rather see wealth being invested in genuine CSR (corporate social responsibility) or developmental activities with IT exemption on such expenditure," she said.

Mazumdar-Shaw, a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee who has been named among TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, was asked about her views of Europe's wealthy recently asking to be taxed more and if she thought top earners in India should follow suit.

She said tax slabs are always proportionate to wealth/income, adding that most taxation levels on high incomes range between 30-50%, which she thought is fair.