Passive incomes in corporate returns

Companies opting for financial investments over physical assets is a matter of concern

- R KAVITA RAO

The Indian economy has faced a number of shocks in recent years—both strategic and exogenous. These are argued to have had an impact on the structure of the economy and on the forms of organization of economic activity. For instance, it is suggested that these shocks may have resulted in a negative impact on the unorganized or informal sector, implying an expansion in the formal sector. Given the challenges in measuring the scale of economic activity in the informal sector, such hypotheses are difficult to test. However, recently initiated efforts for gross domestic product (GDP) base revision, along with supporting primary surveys, could provide some insights into this issue.

If one were to focus solely on the formal or tax-paying segments of the economy, data revealed from income tax returns does provide a window into some emerging trends in the economy. One prominent emerging trend is an increase in the share of passive incomes. Defining salary and business income as active income and all other sources as passive incomes, it can be seen that the share of passive income in total reported income has increased from 16 per cent in assessment year (AY) 2016-17 to 24 per cent in AY 2023-24. This includes incomes from house property, long- and short-term capital gains, and other sources such as interest receipts and dividends. Long-term capital gains, in particular, saw a sharp increase from 2.36 per cent to 8 per cent.