Ashneer Grover: 'I’ve always been a diligent taxpayer. My dad kept me honest'

Ashneer Grover went viral on social media last year when he equated paying taxes in India to being punished.

Ashneer Grover, who has on multiple times been critical of paying taxes, recently shared that he has always been a "diligent taxpayer", and he attributed this habit to his late father and CA who was very particular about paying taxes and filing returns. The co-founder of BharatPe and the founder of the Fantasy gaming app Crickpe took to X to thank the income tax department for the closure of a faceless assessment of his IT returns for the financial year 2021-22.

"I’ve always been a diligent taxpayer. This return was the last one filed by my dad Ashok Grover, who was my CA, prior to his demise. He was very particular and kept me honest. This will also further strengthen my defence in my cases," Grover wrote.

Thanks @IncomeTaxIndia for timely closure of faceless assessment of my IT Return of FY21-22. That too with NIL demand.

I’ve always been a diligent tax payer. This return was the last one filed by my dad Ashok Grover, who was my CA, prior to his demise. He was very particular…

— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) March 15, 2024

The former Shark Tank India judge made headlines and went viral on social media last year when he equated paying taxes in India to being punished.

Claiming that India has a skewed tax system with the government taking away 30-40 percent of our income without any tangible benefits, Ashneer Grover said that taxpayers are doing charity in the country. "

They are not getting any benefits," he said. "You tell me one thing, when know that I will earn Rs 10 and Rs 4 will be kept by the government, out of the 12 months, you are working for the government for five months. Now in your life, how many years you have to be a slave for the government... and we have all accepted the way things are: 'It is the way it is.'"

Grover further said that since entrepreneurs understand this, they do not pay taxes, but salaried employees don't have an option because the income tax is deducted at the source. "So tax, it's a punishment. On top of this, you're paying 18 percent GST. So at the end of the day, who are you living for?" he asked.

Last July, Grover was also critical of the Centre's decision to impose a 28 percent tax on funds that online gaming companies collect from their customers. He pointed out that even Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly endorse online gaming with BCCI even accepting fantasy sports platform Dream 11 as its title sponsor, "Why judgement on online gaming now?" he asked.

"You (the government) got billions in from foreign investors as FDI. Celebrated FDI inflow! Now the same investors will apply regulatory risk discount to India and funds will dry up. Not only for online games -- but across sectors. Across startups," Grover, who has his own fantasy gaming platform Crickpe, wrote on X. "Tech founders are dispensable -- that’s the only truth. In future, all tech companies will be based in Dubai/Singapore. As an operator Indian regulatory risk makes no sense to put one’s own effort -- forget raising external capital for it !"

Read more: Ashneer Grover after restrictions imposed on Paytm: 'RBI doesn't want fintechs in business'