The Persistence of India’s Angel Tax: A Menace to Startups and the Need for Reform
Angel and tax combine as naturally as do gold and rust, or, say, deer and hyena. That, of course, is in the real world. In the world of Indian taxation, things are a bit different. The so-called Angel Tax, introduced in 2012, has undergone various bits of cosmetic surgery, in order to make this grotesque mutant look less threatening, but it remains a menace to Indian startups. The latest attempt to soothe frayed nerves in the startup universe has been a clarification that bars the tax from haunting the premises of startups recognised by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade. Instead of pulling a fang or blunting a claw of this tax monster, what needs to be done is to slay it once and for all