When the poor are taken into account, India's tax effort does not look that bad.

In India, the central government’s tax/GDP ratio is around 10 per cent, with slightly higher collection from commodity taxes (5+ per cent) than income taxes (5- per cent). Interestingly, during 2004-08, a golden age period for tax revenue growth in real terms – having crossed 20 per cent per annum in 2007-08 – income tax collection surpassed commodity taxes......Read More