Philanthropy and the Indian Businessman - V. P. Nandakumar

Philanthropy and the Indian Businessman - V. P. Nandakumar: here is an important reason for this divergent trends in philanthropy among businessmen in America and in India. In India, all citizens including wealthy businessmen are allowed to leave their entire wealth to their family. Estate duty, or the tax on inheritance, was abolished in India in 1985. In the US, if you are very rich, the estate tax has a top rate of 40%. Therefore, when an Indian businessman donates a crore, it is money that otherwise would have gone to his family. In America, only 60 percent would pass on to the family with the rest going to the government as estate tax.