INDIAN INCOME ?I'A X 815 an income tax would have come, but? would not have come so early as it did. (b) I?dia und? the British Crown. probably A careful examination of the accounts of ?he Eas? India Com- pany for ?he ?wen?y years preceding ?he grea? Revolutions of 1857 a? ?he end of which India was ?ransferred ?o ?he British Crown .from ?he hands of a dividend distributing concern, shows ?ha? all ?hese ?wen?y years were no? necessarily years of defici? in Indian finances as is commonly believed. To be specific, ?he las? seven or eight years of. ?he Com- pany's rule show an average annual surplus of over ?1,000,000, while '?he actual surplus for 1856-57 ending on 80th April was no less ?han ?886,000. ? Bu? ?he Hu?iny in Hay 1857 disorganised and paralyzed the revenue system in almos? ?he whole of Northern and Eastern per,ions of India, and precipitated a huge defici? for ?he succeeding years. A resor? ?o new sources of revenue and to re?renchmen? in public expenditure was welcomed .by ?he new Imperial Govern- ment. We are for ?he firs? ?ime ready ? discuss ?he beginnings of a real modern income ?ax in India. ? The year 1860 marks a new epoch in ?he Indian financial annals, no? only for ?he in?roduc?ion of ?he income ?ax, but. also for ?he genuine a?emp? on ?he par? of Hr. James Wilson and his two associates, purposely drawn from ?he British Treasury ? in?ro- duce a sound financial system. Budgets and financial s?a?emen?s were made more accurate and ?rus?wor?hy ?han before, no? ?ha? ?here was no system under the .1 It was really a revolution in as muoh as the new Imperial Government in Indra was made directly responsible, at least teohnieally to the majority party in the House of Commons. S East Indht Aoeeunts stud Papers, 185?-1858. a By Indht is meant only British India. The French and Portuguese possessions in Indim, the semi-independent states of Nepal and Bhutan, the various feudatory Native States, oompriain8 in all more than one third area of the whole of India and more than one-fifth of the whole population are not subject to the Indian income tax. All this means few assessees and tonsil yield from the trax.
