As India’s growing economic inequality has revived debates about wealth and inheritance taxes, Zerodha founder Nitin Kamath makes a bold case for taxing generational wealth.
“I think there is a need for an inheritance tax in this country,” Kamath said in a podcast by Jivraj Singh Sachar, arguing that it is unfair to accumulate wealth across generations without any redistribution.
“Whenever a generation receives x amount of money, they have to pay some of it in taxes. It’s only fair. ” While he acknowledged that implementing such measures in India could be challenging, he believes the country will eventually need to take this path.
Kamath’s views echo French economist Thomas Piketty’s recent proposal for targeted wealth and inheritance taxes to address India’s growing inequality. Piketty suggested a 2% annual estate tax on assets over ₹100 million and a 33% inheritance tax on assets of similar value, claiming that this could raise India’s revenue by 2.73% of annual GDP.
However, Kamath softened his stance by emphasizing the responsibilities of wealth holders.
“I tell everybody who’s rich: you have to do more to give it away,” he said, referring to the moral dimension of wealth redistribution.
Talks gained traction amid former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan’s opposition to the wealth tax. Rajan called Piketty’s recommendations “pie in the same economics”, arguing that wealth taxes often fail to generate meaningful revenue and penalize success. “The rich always have a way around it,” Rajan said, suggesting India focus on fostering entrepreneurial innovation and optimizing the allocation of resources.
Kamath also reflected on the challenges of building large-scale enterprises in today’s hyper-competitive capitalism. “It’s impossible to make another zero from today,” he said, pointing to the pressure on founders to promise as much growth as possible to secure funding. Instead, he urged entrepreneurs to under-promise and over-deliver, promoting sustainable development.
