NDTV Profit reported that Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath and PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam discussed whether heirs should pay tax on inherited wealth in an Oct. 30 podcast, tying the issue to investment-gains taxation.
NDTV Profit said the exchange included a hypothetical 20% levy on inherited wealth above a threshold that was not specified. In that scenario, heirs would pay the tax. The outlet cited no government proposal and did not say how revenue might be used. The rate was presented as part of the discussion, rather than as announced policy.
Nigam argued that money can grow faster than labor or enterprise, and that capital-gains tax rates should not be one-quarter of income-tax rates. The exchange joined two questions: how wealth passes between generations and how investment income compares with earnings from work.
NDTV Profit also reported that Kamath cited Australia and some Nordic countries while discussing inequality and the Gini coefficient. The outlet named no Nordic countries, identified no specific policies and gave no country-level Gini figures. The OECD measure tracks inequality in disposable household income, accounting for taxes, social contributions and cash benefits.
A 2021 OECD review counted 24 member countries that taxed inheritances or estates. It lists Australia's repeal in 1979, Sweden's in 2004 and Norway's in 2014. The Australian repeal predates the podcast by decades. NDTV Profit did not say whether Kamath meant broader tax and transfer policies.
During a 1985 Rajya Sabha debate, the finance minister said estate duty would cease to apply to most estates when the change took effect on March 16; farmland was handled separately. No bill or scheduled policy decision was identified following the discussion.
