Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that the Narendra Modi government will not impose any tax whatsoever on agriculture income. Jaitley’s remark was a response to the Niti Aayog’s recommendations that the centre should relook tax exemption on income from farming.
"I have read the paragraph in Niti Ayog report entitled 'Income tax on agriculture income'. To obviate any confusion on the subject, I categorically state that the central government has no plan to impose any tax on agriculture income. As per the Constitutional Allocation of Powers, the central government has no jurisdiction to impose tax on agricultural income,” Jaitley said, as per an official statement from the Finance Ministry.
At the Niti Aayog’s governing council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Modi and attended by chief ministers of states on Sunday, the body’s three-year action agenda stated that a review of tax exemption on farm income was necessary as the blanket relief was being misused by non-agricultural entities to generate black money.