Who are the Highest Taxpayers in India in 2026?
Written by Ipsita Baishya
Reviewed by Gaurav Garg, SEBI-registered Research Analyst
Tax contributions are vital to the health of the economy. The term “highest taxpayer” refers to any individual or corporation that contributes the highest income tax to the government in a particular financial year. Over the years, the country’s highest taxpayers have set benchmarks in responsible tax payments, and their role in nation-building cannot be gainsaid.
Based on the latest publicly reported individual data, Amitabh Bachchan is the highest tax-paying Indian celebrity for FY 2024-25, with a reported tax payment of ₹120 crore on earnings of about ₹350 crore.
However, that does not mean he is officially India’s highest individual taxpayer overall.
As of 7 August 2026, the Income Tax Department and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has not published a public leaderboard naming every individual taxpayer and ranking them by tax paid. CBDT publishes aggregate statistics on collections, return filers, taxpayers, and income ranges instead. Its latest time-series dataset currently covers FY 2000-01 to FY 2024-25.
That distinction is important because many online lists mix celebrity advance tax, individual income tax, company tax expense, and total government contributions as though they are the same number.
They are not.
Highest Taxpayers in India in 2026: What Is Actually Verified?
Here is the clearest fact-checked picture from currently available public data.
| Category | Latest verified or reported leader | Amount | Period | What the figure means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity taxpayer | Amitabh Bachchan | ₹120 crore | FY 2024-25 | Reported personal tax liability/payment |
| Previous celebrity leader | Shah Rukh Khan | ₹92 crore | FY 2023-24 | Advance tax reported by Fortune India |
| Sportsperson in Fortune list | Virat Kohli | ₹66 crore | FY 2023-24 | Advance tax |
| Major listed company tax expense example | TCS | ₹16,033 crore | FY 2025-26 | Consolidated income tax expense |
| Major listed company tax expense example | Infosys | ₹10,521 crore | FY 2025-26 | Consolidated income tax expense |
| Largest reported national exchequer contribution | Reliance Industries | ₹2,16,472 crore | FY 2025-26 | Multiple government payments, not only income tax |
The most important takeaway is that these numbers answer different questions. Comparing Amitabh Bachchan’s ₹120 crore personal tax figure with Reliance Industries’ ₹2.16 lakh crore exchequer contribution would be misleading.
Who Is the Highest Individual Taxpayer in India in 2026?
There is no official publicly available ranking that identifies India’s highest individual taxpayer for FY 2025-26.
The latest well-supported public claim concerns celebrities. Business Standard reported in March 2025 that Amitabh Bachchan paid ₹120 crore in taxes on estimated FY 2024-25 earnings of ₹350 crore, including a final advance-tax instalment of ₹52.5 crore on 15 March 2025. The Economic Times reported the same figures.
Hence, it will be safe to say that:
Amitabh Bachchan is the latest reported highest-tax-paying celebrity in India, but he may not be the highest taxpayer among all individuals in the country.
Private business owners, investors, company promoters and other wealthy individuals may pay larger amounts without appearing in publicly compiled celebrity rankings.
Is Amitabh Bachchan the Highest Taxpayer in India?
Amitabh Bachchan is the highest reported celebrity taxpayer for FY 2024-25, with a tax of approximately ₹120 crore.
His reported income for the financial year was around ₹350 crore, generated through films, television, endorsements and other professional activities. Business Standard reported that his final advance-tax instalment alone was ₹52.5 crore.
The ₹120 crore figure represents a roughly 69% increase over the ₹71 crore attributed to him in Fortune India’s previous FY 2023-24 celebrity tax ranking.
Did Amitabh Bachchan overtake Shah Rukh Khan?
Yes, according to the latest reported celebrity data.
Shah Rukh Khan had topped Fortune India’s FY 2023-24 celebrity advance-tax ranking at ₹92 crore. Amitabh Bachchan’s reported ₹120 crore tax payment for FY 2024-25 is ₹28 crore higher.
But there is another important data-quality issue here.
The ₹92 crore figure for Shah Rukh Khan belongs to FY 2023-24, while Amitabh Bachchan’s ₹120 crore belongs to FY 2024-25. These are consecutive financial years, not two taxpayers being compared within one newly published FY 2024-25 league table.
Latest Reported Highest Tax-Paying Celebrities in India
There is not yet a credible, comprehensive FY 2025-26 celebrity taxpayer ranking from a primary or major financial source.
The most recent individual figure with strong mainstream reporting is Amitabh Bachchan’s FY 2024-25 figure. The last broad celebrity ranking remains Fortune India’s FY 2023-24 advance-tax list.
| Celebrity | Reported tax | Financial year | Data status |
| Amitabh Bachchan | ₹120 crore | FY 2024-25 | Latest separately reported figure |
| Shah Rukh Khan | ₹92 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Thalapathy Vijay | ₹80 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Salman Khan | ₹75 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Virat Kohli | ₹66 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Ajay Devgn | ₹42 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| MS Dhoni | ₹38 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Ranbir Kapoor | ₹36 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Hrithik Roshan | ₹28 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Sachin Tendulkar | ₹28 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
| Kapil Sharma | ₹26 crore | FY 2023-24 | Fortune India ranking |
Fortune India specifically described its FY 2023-24 figures as advance tax payments. Business Standard and India Today subsequently reported the same ranking and amounts.
That makes the table useful for understanding India’s highest tax-paying celebrities, but it should not be presented as an official Income Tax Department ranking.
1. Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan’s reported ₹120 crore tax payment for FY 2024-25 is the newest high-profile figure available from credible financial reporting.
Business Standard reported estimated earnings of ₹350 crore for the year and a ₹52.5 crore final advance-tax instalment paid on 15 March 2025.
That pushed him ahead of Shah Rukh Khan’s previous ₹92 crore figure from FY 2023-24.
2. Shah Rukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan topped Fortune India’s FY 2023-24 celebrity taxpayer list with ₹92 crore in advance tax.
His tax figure should not be confused with his net worth, film box-office collections or the turnover of businesses in which he has an interest. Each is calculated differently for tax purposes.
3. Thalapathy Vijay
Thalapathy Vijay ranked second in Fortune India’s FY 2023-24 list with ₹80 crore in advance tax.
His payment put him ahead of Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Virat Kohli for that financial year.
4. Salman Khan
Salman Khan reportedly paid ₹75 crore in advance tax for FY 2023-24, placing him third on Fortune India’s celebrity ranking.
5. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli paid a reported ₹66 crore in advance tax for FY 2023-24, making him the highest-paying sportsperson in Fortune India’s celebrity ranking.
MS Dhoni followed among cricketers at ₹38 crore, while Sachin Tendulkar paid ₹28 crore and Sourav Ganguly ₹23 crore.
Who Are the Highest Corporate Taxpayers in India in 2026?
Companies disclose tax information in audited financial statements, but a company’s current tax, total tax expense, cash taxes paid and contribution to the national exchequer can all be different figures.
A clean all-company FY 2025-26 leaderboard requires the same metric to be extracted from each company’s audited accounts. There is no comparable official CBDT company-by-company ranking currently available in the public time-series data.
The 2026 Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Family Businesses List cites Reliance Industries as India’s highest tax-paying corporate entity. The report also states that India’s top 10 family-run entities paid ₹76,665 crore in taxes.
The official ranking of these businesses based on the report is shown below:
| Flagship company | Promoter family | Corporate tax paid (₹ crore) |
| Reliance Industries | Ambani family | ₹27,552 |
| Bharti Airtel | Sunil Bharti Mittal family | ₹11,350 |
| Bajaj Finserv | Bajaj family | ₹7,214 |
| HCL Technologies | Nadar family | ₹5,450 |
| Hindalco | Kumar Mangalam Birla family | ₹5,105 |
| Vedanta | Anil Agarwal family | ₹4,646 |
| Wipro | Premji family | ₹4,077 |
| Adani Enterprises | Adani family | ₹3,831 |
| JSW Steel | Jindal family | ₹3,742 |
| Muthoot Finance | Muthoot family | ₹3,698 |
According to the same report, beyond family businesses, financial services contributed the highest aggregate total at ₹40,939 crore, backed by leading banks like SBI and HDFC Bank, while software and services ranked second at ₹38,198 crore, powered by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys.
Does Mukesh Ambani Pay ₹2.16 Lakh Crore in Tax?
No.
The ₹2,16,472 crore figure belongs to Reliance Industries’ contribution to the national exchequer, not Mukesh Ambani’s personal income tax bill.
A company is a separate taxable entity from its shareholders and promoters.
Mukesh Ambani’s personal income may include dividends, investment income, capital gains and other sources. His personal tax cannot be inferred simply by looking at Reliance’s tax disclosures or his estimated net worth.
Why Isn’t India’s Richest Person Automatically the Highest Taxpayer?
Net worth and taxable income are fundamentally different.
Imagine an investor owns shares worth ₹5,000 crore. If the market value rises to ₹7,000 crore, their estimated net worth has increased by ₹2,000 crore.
That does not mean they received ₹2,000 crore in taxable cash income.
Tax treatment depends on the type of income, whether an asset has been sold, applicable capital-gains rules, dividends received, business structures and other factors.
For the same reason, billionaire rankings cannot be used to identify India’s highest income-tax payer.
Why Doesn’t the Government Publish a Highest Taxpayer List?
CBDT does publish extensive tax statistics, but these are mainly aggregate datasets.
Its latest time-series publication contains information on direct-tax collection, direct-tax-to-GDP ratios, returns filed, return filers, taxpayers and other system-level measures through FY 2024-25. It does not provide a public named ranking of India’s richest taxpayers.
Taxpayer-specific information is also governed by disclosure provisions under the Income-tax Act. Section 138 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 deals specifically with circumstances in which information relating to an assessee may be furnished to specified authorities or bodies.
So, media rankings usually rely on reported advance-tax information, company disclosures or other publicly available sources rather than a government-issued “top taxpayer” leaderboard.
Tax articles often mix financial years and assessment years.
Common Mistakes in Highest Taxpayer Lists
Several popular taxpayer articles make comparisons that should be treated cautiously.
| Claim | Fact check |
| Amitabh Bachchan is officially India’s highest taxpayer | Too broad. He is the latest reported highest tax-paying celebrity |
| Shah Rukh Khan is still India’s No. 1 celebrity taxpayer | Outdated. Amitabh Bachchan’s newer FY 2024-25 figure is higher |
| Reliance paid ₹2.16 lakh crore in income tax | Incorrect framing. It is a contribution to the national exchequer |
| Mukesh Ambani personally paid Reliance’s tax | Incorrect. Company and personal tax are separate |
| Celebrity rankings come from the Income Tax Department | Usually incorrect. The widely cited FY24 list came from Fortune India |
| Net worth determines tax paid | Incorrect. Tax depends on taxable income and transactions |
| FY 2025-26 has a verified celebrity top-10 ranking | Not supported by a comparable major-source ranking as of 7 August 2026 |
Final Thoughts
Tracking the highest taxpayers helps understand trends in income, wealth distribution, investment, and India Inc’s performance beyond the numbers. As India continues to thrive, rising tax contributions can fuel the growth of the economy, thereby helping to fund infrastructure and healthcare programs, education, and national security.
FAQs
1. How Can You Legally Reduce Your Income Tax in India?
Compare the old and new tax regimes each financial year and see which one results in lower tax. You can claim standard deductions, like buying health insurance, to claim deductions under Section 80D. You can also invest in government-backed schemes and allowances to reduce your income tax.
2. Is surcharge applicable under the new tax regime?
Yes, surcharge is applicable under the new tax regime, and it is capped at 25%, unlike 37% in the old tax regime.
3. Did India have 97% income tax?
Yes, India’s marginal income tax rate was a staggering 97.75% in the early 1970s.
4. How many Indians earn 1 CR per year?
As per the latest income tax return data, around 3.9 lakh Indians earn over 1CR per year. That constitutes 0.025% of India’s total population.
References:
- Income Tax Department, CBDT link
- Amitabh Bachchan tax report, Business Standard link
- Celebrity taxpayer ranking, Fortune India link
- Celebrity tax list, Business Standard link
- TCS Annual Report 2025-26 link
Note: Last verified: August 2026
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