Jaitley snubs Debroy, says no to tax on agri income

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the government does not plan to impose any tax on agricultural income, dismissing the suggestion of NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy.

"I categorically state that the central government has no plan to impose any tax on agriculture income," he said in a tweet.

The minister further clarified that as per the constitutional allocation of powers, the Centre has no jurisdiction to impose tax on agricultural income.

Debroy had said on Tuesday that taxes should be imposed on farm income above a certain threshold to expand the tax base.

"On expanding the base on the personal income tax side, other than elimination of exemptions, is to also tax rural sector, including agriculture income above a certain threshold," Debroy had said.

Taxing agricultural income is a politically sensitive issue and successive governments have refrained from doing so.

Jaitley had on March 22 assured Parliament: "Agriculture income is not taxed and will not be taxed."