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MPAs demand farm tax withdrawal
PESHAWAR, March 31: The NWFP Assembly has urged
the government to stop collection of fixed land
tax, saying that it is a violation of the
Agriculture Income Tax Act, 2001, which exempts
Rs80,000 income from agriculture produce, from
being taxed.
Speaking on his adjournment motion on the
agriculture income tax, Abdul Akbar Khan of the
People's Party Parliamentarians told the house
that the government was collecting a fixed tax
from farmers on the ownership of land instead of
their income earned from the agriculture produce.
The relevant crop-oriented laws, he said, exempted
an income of Rs80,000 earned from the agriculture
yield by farmers.
Mr Khan said the collection of fixed land tax had
accelerated the venal transactions in the revenue
department where patwaris (land record-keepers)
were free to exploit the poor farmers. They often
changed the nature of the agriculture produce from
sugarcane to wheat and hence cause a major loss to
the national exchequer, he added.
The agriculture was the only sector, he said,
which provided a sort of self-employment to a big
population, who, according to a State Bank of
Pakistan report, were living below the poverty
line in the country.
"This very population have elected all of us to
bring a change. The government does not provide
them any jobs. They are pushing the cycle of life
even in worst conditions. Why government wants to
halt their life cycle," he added.
He told the House that the water (irrigation) tax
was another bane in the life of farmers. He said
the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government had made an
unprecedented increase of 25 per cent in the water
tax to supplement the irrigation department's
expenses, he added.
Mr Khan said either the government should collect
agriculture income tax and water tax or the Usher
tax from the farmers. It was unfair to burden them
(farmers) with many taxes, he observed.
The PPP leader said the Sindh government had
exempted 16 acre land and the Punjab had exempted
12 acre land from the taxes. He asked the
government to implement its own Act and stop its
violation at once, otherwise the farmers would not
pay a single penny.
Endorsing the stand of opposition benches, Raja
Faisal Zaman, minister for sports, youth affairs
and tourism, told the House that he had opposed
the AIT in the provincial cabinet meeting and
asked his colleagues to review it.
He said the cabinet had constituted a broad-based
committee under his stewardship to review the
matter and submit a report. The government was
ready to include opposition lawmakers into it, he
added.
Iftikhar Jhagra of the PPP asked the chair to
refer the motion to the adjournment committee.
Bashir Bilour of the Awami National Party, Amanat
Shah, Nadir Shah, Javed Mohmand, Pir Mohammad Khan
of the MMA and Mazhar Qasim from Mansehra asked
the government to end water tax. Jamshed Khan of
the PPP-S asked the government to abolish all
other taxes except Usher and Zakat.
Earlier, Rifat Akbar Swati drew the attention of
the House on the inconclusive proceedings of a
House committee on distribution of edible oil
canisters, donated by the World Food Programme,
among the school children in Mansehra. Ms Swati
said she had raised the issue on many occasion in
the House, but the government had hushed it up.
The DAWN |
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Pakissan.com; Advisory Point
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