Because if you don’t pay, who will? And because you don’t vote as a block, get ready to keep paying no matter who is in the seat of power. There is no alternative for middle India. We are the Boxers of Animal Farm who will work harder to keep paying for all those who don’t. For those who persistently stay outside the tax net. For those who are the recipients of subsidies and State largesse — of cash handouts, free electricity, free water, free bus rides, free and more free. For all the behan, didi, mahila, akka, amma or whatever schemes that are the flavour of the season. But there is never a free lunch — you and I are disproportionately paying for all this. And in return, other than when a crisis hits, we get subpar government services. So, pay.

You need to pay for those with free electricity and water. One study (tinyurl.com/yusjkf8f) puts the direct tariff subsidies from state and Union territory governments at ₹1.1 trillion in 2018-19 with cross-subsidies adding at least another ₹75,027 crore. This number is likely to be higher as the report says that not all states report their subsidies. With three quarters of the subsidies going to agriculture, the rest goes to select focus groups who might vote as a group in urban areas.

You need to pay for the farmers — even rich SUV-driving ones — who are exempt from income tax. Why, you also pay for those who identify as farmers and manage to turn their taxable income into untaxed gains. Recent data is hard to come by, but a study by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (tinyurl.com/5xrryrhf) put the tax revenue foregone of the non-poor farmers at over ₹85,000 crore for 2015-16. At that time this was 11% of the direct tax base. If we take 11% of the gross direct tax revenue for FY2024, that number is upwards of ₹2.1 trillion today.

Pay. Pay for the judiciary that works less than 190 days a year and takes holidays that school children can only dream about. The summer, winter, Dussehra, Diwali, Holi and other smaller breaks are, of course, in excess of their annual leave that they are entitled to. Does that have an impact on justice delivered? Newspaper reports put the number of case backlogs as over 50 million.

Pay for the schoolteachers, doctors and nurses, who you fund, to not turn up to work, or if they do, for some of them to not work. Karthik Muralidharan, in his book Accelerating India’s Development, documents his research where he found around 25% of teachers and 40% of doctors absent on any given day. Another 25% were present but not teaching. He writes: “At any given point in time, 50% of government teachers across India were not teaching.” (page 74 of the book).

Pay for the pensions and medical benefits of those in government service. See them getting inflation-adjusted annuities even as you struggle to save from the half income that is left after all taxes (direct and indirect) are paid. You tiny cohort of around 5% of Indian population, who file income tax returns and even smaller fraction that actually pay any meaningful tax on the already small base, are the cash cow of the system.

But that is not enough. Pay between 10% to 35% of project cost of any business you want to do as bribes. Because the salaries and perks are not enough for the state. Its agents need more. The gouging continues. Pay higher prices for homes because the cost of corruption adds layers and layers to the final cost of the home in hand. Why do you think rent is a fraction of the EMI in India and not adjacent as in most other countries?

Pay for the parkland accompanying colonial-style bungalows in prime locations in capitals of the nation and states for the new masters — the politicians, bureaucrats and judiciary, while you wait in endless jams on choked roads of the urban mess we live in. And then pay for adorning them with crores worth of TV consoles, bars, curtains, silk carpets and state-of-the-art gadgets. Pay for the dear departed who look out to a river view in memorial after memorial while the living commute long distances to work.

While the State gets away with not doing its job, you pay for the smallest of infractions — like jumping a red light. Pay when the municipal local goon comes to ‘examine’ the cooler for mosquito larvae, doesn’t find even a cooler, but anyway wants ₹1,000 for his troubles. Run a small unit that is legitimate, still pay. Pay because the State has the power to harass the life out of you. Taxes are not enough. Either a bribe or the fine. Pay for it all but ignore the crime of a potholed road or stray cattle claiming the life of a commuter. Whoever heard of making the public master (why use the wrong word here — servant is so untrue) accountable? Ignore the State dysfunction on irregular water supplies that are anyway not drinkable. Pay for choked sewers. Pay for broken roads. Pay for the toxic air. Pay. Pay. Pay.

Pay because you don’t have street power. To run tractors amuck in the capital of the nation. To block roads for months. To riot in the streets for reservations. To vote as a block to do a deal with the politician to benefit your narrow slice of population. The good news is that while middle and rich India have begun to vote more than the poor (tinyurl.com/yc26cedm), they are not all income taxpayers, nor do they vote as a block. Dear Indian income taxpayer, you are really on your own no matter which government is in power.

Monika Halan is the best-selling author of the Let’s Talk series of books on money.The views expressed are personal