The editorial “Welfarism and bias” (February 5) says “giving tax-free status to all those with an income of up to Rs 5 lakh means that even those with an income just under five times higher than the mean income will no longer need to pay income tax”. Surely, this statement does not make a comparison of the likes. The mean income is per person, while the taxable income is that of an individual who could have a family, not all of whom necessarily earn an income. Take for example, a typical urban middle class family with only one spouse working,