How can we pay income tax without income?

"The government has banned creation of any new posts under all ministries and departments while restricting hiring of consultants on higher wages as part of its fresh expenditure rationalisation measures." After one of the strictest lockdowns in the world government finances are completely shredded. In this year's budget government borrowing was projected to be under Rs 8 trillion and fiscal deficit was expected to be 3.5%. "For April-July, the Center's fiscal deficit stood at Rs 8.21 trillion, or 103 percent of 2020-21 budget estimates of 7.96 trillion, compared to 77.8 percent for the same period last year." This year's deficit is now expected to reach Rs 12 trillion, but whether that will be enough remains to be seen. Gross tax revenue was expected to rise by 12% and net tax revenue for the Center, after paying states' share, was expected to be Rs 16.4 trillion. Citing the coronavirus as an "Act of God" the Center is refusing to pay full compensation for a shortfall in goods and service tax (GST) collections. The GST was brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government by amending the constitution, so the refusal to pay compensation is a constitutional default, which is worse than a sovereign default, opined Prof Shruti Rajagopalan. "What makes the Center's actions even more egregious is that its refusal to honor its GST commitment comes on the back of another failed promise of cooperative federalism -- increased tax devolution. The 14th Finance Commission sought to deepen fiscal decentralisation by mandating that the states' share in the divisible pool of taxes be enhanced from 32% to 42%," wrote Yamini Aiyer. "Actual transfers to states as a share of gross tax revenue have been in the range of 33%-35%." What about direct taxes? In 2019-20, gross corporate tax collection stood at Rs 6.78 trillion while gross Personal Income Tax revenue was Rs 5.55 trillion. All politicians and civil servants in India have somehow convinced themselves that there are lots of rich people in India who do not pay appropriate income tax by hiding their income. India's income tax threshold is Rs 500,000 while per capita income is only Rs 140,000, wrote Praveen Chakravarty. Only 3% of working adults (aged 25-65) earn more than three times the per capita income to be eligible to pay income tax. That comes to around 25 million people. The tax threshold is Rs 250,000 if one chooses to avail of exemptions. According to the tax department, 57.8 million people filed tax returns in 2018-19, of which only 14.6 million had taxable income. Looking at it another way, there are 663 million women in India of which around 430 million are between 20 and 65 years of age. The labor force participation rate (LFPR), that is the proportion of women working or actively looking for work, was only 23% in 2017-18. Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) survey found that 39% of women have lost jobs due to the lockdown. A report by Azim Premji University said that 92% of women earn less than Rs 10,000 per month. One needs to earn Rs 21,000 every month to reach taxable income. Assuming a LFPR of 16%, not even 500,000 women earn enough to pay income tax. Taxes are a reflection of earnings. If we become rich everyone would pay tax. Happily.