BY ASIM SHAHZAD
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly (PA) has passed the bill on Agricultural Income Tax Punjab 2024 while all the amendments presented by the opposition has been rejected.
People’s Party and PTI walked out of the House opposing the agricultural income tax.
According to the approval of the Agricultural Income Tax Punjab Bill, a tax will also be applied on livestock and super tax will be applied on farmers with high income.
Through the amendment bill, the income tax exemption on agricultural land will be removed, along with agricultural land, income earned from livestock will also be taxed.
Tax on livestock will also be considered as agricultural tax and concept of livestock will be as per Punjab Livestock Breeding Act 2014.
According to the bill, the agricultural income tax defaulter will be fined 0.1 per cent of the tax amount for each additional day, the agricultural income tax defaulter with less than 12 lakhs will be fined 10,000, and the agricultural income less than 4 crores will be fined. Around 25,000 fine will be imposed on the non-payer of agricultural tax.
Non-payer of agricultural tax with agricultural income of more than 4 crores will be fined 50,000. A farmer with an income of up to twelve lakhs will pay a maximum fine of ten thousand rupees.
A farmer with an income of Rs12 lakh to Rs4 crore will be fined Rs20,000 for non-payment of tax. In the Agricultural Income Tax Act 2024, the tax schedule listed in the Agricultural Income Tax Act of 1997 has also been abolished.
The ruling coalition PPP strongly opposed the Agricultural Income Tax Act 2024. Without the PPP, the Punjab government passed the Agricultural Income Tax Bill in the Punjab Assembly. The PPP parliamentary leader Ali Haider Gilani said that he would not be a part of the government in abuse of farmers and protested against the Agricultural Income Tax Bill in the Punjab Assembly, walking out of the House.
