According to the draft of the bill, under clause (d) of the new law, tax will now be imposed on cattle as well. (File Photo: Pinterest)
Agriculture Income Tax Bill 2024 has been approved in the Punjab Assembly. This bill contains additions and amendments to the Agriculture Income Tax Act, 1997.
After the approval of the bill by the Punjab Assembly on Thursday, the tax will be levied on the sale and purchase of goods and livestock.
According to the draft of the bill available to Urdu News, under clause (d) of the new law, tax will now be imposed on livestock. Also new clause 3AB Super tax will be applied on high income farmers.
Income tax exemption on agricultural land has ended after the bill was passed. The Agricultural Income Tax Act, 2024 has also abolished the tax schedule contained in the Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1997.
According to the contents of the bill, the tax will be applied on income earned from livestock along with agricultural land. Tax on livestock will also be counted as agricultural tax. Livestock will be considered as per Punjab Livestock Breeding Act 2014.
New penalties have also been imposed on tax defaulters after the amendment to the Agriculture Income Tax Act, 1997. As per the amendment in Section 8, a penalty of 0.1% of the tax amount will be imposed on the agricultural tax defaulter for every additional day. According to the amendment in Section 8, the agricultural tax defaulter with agricultural income less than 12 lakhs will be fined 10,000. An agricultural tax defaulter with an agricultural income of less than 4 crores will be fined 25,000 while an agricultural tax defaulter with an agricultural income of more than 4 crores will be fined 50,000.
All the amendments presented by the opposition were rejected in the Punjab Assembly, while the Pakistan People’s Party opposed it on the grounds of non-consultation by the government.
Parliamentary leader of People’s Party Ali Haider Gilani said that the government did not consult on this bill, the farmers cannot support the government on this bill as it has already been crushed.
After that, the People’s Party walked out in protest. In the meeting, discussion continued on the Agricultural Income Tax Amendment Bill, while there was also a phased discussion on the Agricultural Income Tax Amendments by opposition members. During the assembly session, the opposition submitted seven amendments on agricultural income tax.
