Rs 1 crore salary, 3 houses—But borrows money to file tax? CA's story stuns internet

CA Pratibha Goyal revealed that she recently filed the Income Tax Return (ITR) of a young IITian client who has been earning an annual salary package of over Rs 1 crore for the past five years. Despite the high income, the client reportedly did not have enough liquid cash to pay an outstanding tax liability of Rs 15,000 and requested her to wait until August, when his salary would be credited.

According to Goyal, the client owns three houses, two of which are still under construction, making him asset-rich but cash-poor.

Sharing the incident on X, she wrote, "Just filed the ITR of one of my IITian clients! He is a young guy having a package of Rs 1 crore plus since the last five years."

She added, "He has three houses, out of which two projects are under construction. He told me he had no money to pay taxes of Rs 15,000 and wanted me to wait till August so that his salary comes and we can pay the taxes."

Goyal further revealed that the client eventually borrowed money to clear the tax dues and file his ITR on time to avoid paying additional interest.

Calling for greater financial awareness, she concluded, "It's high time we need financial literacy in our country!"

The post quickly sparked a debate on financial literacy, with many users sharing their views in the comments section.

One user wrote, "Everyone who calls this attention-seeking is simply foolish and has no idea how much Indians lack financial literacy. Most of my clients who come to me citing liquidity crises are people earning packages above Rs 50 lakh."

Another commented, "I don't understand why that's a problem. It's surely possible that people are not managing their money well and are spending beyond their means. A high income doesn't always translate into better savings."

A third user remarked, "I can't believe an IITian, who can handle complex logic, couldn't manage the simple math of income and expenses."