India is yet to provide open access to income tax statistics, noted French economist Thomas Piketty said today.
"Note that I am still waiting for open access to Indian income tax statistics," Piketty told PTI, while referring to an earlier assurance given by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian to this effect.
In a panel discussion at the Jaipur Literature Festival early this year, Subramanian had blamed past governments for non-availability of tax data, and had assured that the present government was working to fix it.
Piketty, who is known for his work on wealth and inequality, said that was publicly promised to him by Subramanian at Jaipur festival in January, but nothing happened since then, despite his "many requests".
"If and when I finally receive the data, I would be happy to draw lessons about inequality dynamics and economic growth in India," he said.
India used to publish the All India Income Tax Statistics until 2000, when it was discontinued.
"In my view, the lack of transparency about income and financial statistics makes it very difficult to have an informed democratic discussion about economic policy in India," he said.
Piketty, the author of the best-seller book 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century', is a professor at the Paris School of Economics.
