Gender Equity in the Indian Income Tax System: A Special Reference to Women Taxpayers

ABSTRACT This paper will analyse the degree to which Indian income tax system is gender equity, considering women as taxpayers. It also compares the main provisions of the Income Tax Act including tax slabs, exemption, deductions and rebates to gauge whether they reflect the economic realities that women experience like lower average incomes, career breaks and lack of care duties. The paper discusses historical and policy changes in taxation and implications as well as the implication on financial independence and participation in the workforce among the women. Through government reports and other secondary data, the research indicates the steps towards gender neutrality, and the structural gaps that still persist to be bridged and guarantee the actual equity. These results indicate that clear discrimination in tax rates in terms of gender has been eliminated, but subtle types of discrimination still persist in terms of income-based benefits and narrowed targeted reliefs. The paper ends by highlighting that there is a necessity to have gender-sensitive taxation policies that empower women economically and make the allocation of tax burden fair.