Depends on what business.

A Bengaluru-based entrepreneur has spoken out against India’s taxation and compliance framework, saying it places heavy pressure on even the most law-abiding businesses. Rohit Shroff, founder of the Aflog Group, said he plans to move out of India in 2026 because of what he called a flawed system of doing business. In a post shared on LinkedIn last week, Shroff said he had paid around Rs 4 crore in taxes over the past 18 months. He questioned why businesses that follow the rules and pay taxes honestly are still treated with suspicion. “In the last 12–18 months, across my businesses, in GST and income tax, I’ve paid over Rs 4 crore to a country that looks at its most compliant contributors with suspicion by default," he wrote. Constant Scrutiny For Compliant Taxpayers Shroff pointed out that less than 5 per cent of Indians pay direct income tax, yet this small group faces repeated scrutiny. He said notices, clarifications and audits are often directed at the same set of compliant taxpayers. “This scrutiny is constant and layered," he said, adding that both local GST authorities and national income-tax teams are involved. Despite this, businesses continue to follow the rules, managing monthly GST filings, quarterly TDS payments and annual income-tax returns. No Tangible Benefits For Businesses According to Shroff, businesses receive no clear benefits in return for their compliance. He said fighting the system often costs more time and money than simply responding to notices and moving on. As a result, many entrepreneurs choose to comply quietly, even though the process is complex and demanding. Shroff questioned the value of a system where compliance brings neither recognition nor reward. Shroff argued that the system is designed to please the majority, not the small group of consistent taxpayers. He said tax-paying business owners are politically insignificant and therefore easy to burden.“The system is designed to win the confidence of the majority, not to enable the minority that builds formally and pays consistently," he wrote. The entrepreneur said many Indians succeed abroad because they are not held back by such systems. In contrast, he said India’s system penalises growth rather than encouraging it. “I’m done living the ‘building in India’ dream," Shroff wrote. “The goal for 2026 is simple: move out of the country and build elsewhere." He added that his decision was not about patriotism but about reality, saying the system does not offer genuine ease of doing business.