High rates of taxes:
As per a calculation made by Dadabhai Naoroji, in 1876, the rich contributed only about 8% of the national income as taxes while the poor Indians contributed 15% of the national income as taxes.

High rates of excise and customs:

• The British collected high excise on match sticks, sugar, steel, silver and all such commodities.
• Though salt was easily available and produced in India, the British termed its production illegal. Then they monopolized salt trade, imported salt to India by charging high custom duties and made it an expensive commodity for poor Indians.
• To suppress the Indian cotton industry, the British levied high custom duty of upto 15% on cotton cloth exported from India. On the other hand, the British imported the cotton cloth from Manchester (England) at a much lower import duty of only about 2.5%.
• The British used to buy and export cotton from India at cheap rates to England and after manufacturing clothes from same cotton used to import and sell those clothes in India and earn huge profits.
• Thus, India’s raw materials were exported so that British industry could thrive at the cost of Indian industry.