The latest income tax data reveals striking regional disparities in the number of individuals declaring over Rs 1 crore in earnings for FY24.
Maharashtra tops the list with an impressive 1,24,800 crore-plus earners, followed by Delhi at 20,500 and Uttar Pradesh with 24,050.
While these numbers reflect the expected dominance of major economic hubs, some anomalies raise important questions.
A particularly notable contrast appears between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Despite Hyderabad being a major business and real estate magnet, Andhra Pradesh has overtaken Telangana in crore-plus income filers — 5,340 in AP versus only 1,260 in Telangana.
This suggests that either high earners in Telangana are underreporting personal income or routing wealth through other financial structures, possibly corporate or HUF-based setups.
A similar puzzle emerges with Karnataka. Bengaluru is globally known for its booming IT sector, startups, and luxury housing, yet only 2,816 individuals declared income above Rs 1 crore. This figure seems disproportionately low for such a rich urban economy.
It raises doubts about whether many entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals holding private and public limited companies are not showing more than Rs 1 cr annual income in their personal earnings, but showing only as company earnings.
These trends indicate that business activity alone does not guarantee higher personal income reporting, hinting at deeper compliance and structuring issues.
