Punjab Assembly takes lead, passes agricultural income tax bill

LAHORE: Acting ahead of other provinces, the Punjab Assembly Thursday passed the Punjab Agricultural Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024 amid a walkout by the PPP and PTI in protest against rejection of their proposals.

The bill will now be sent to the governor for approval. However, sources said the governor was likely to refer the bill back to the House for review.

The bill will become a law after the assembly resends it to the governor.

According to the controversial bill, which according to the opposition had been passed to implement the IMF’s agenda, there was a need to levy ‘equitable’ Agricultural Income Tax, in accordance with the income generated from agricultural income.

As per the legislation, the income generated from livestock owned by the farmers is also considered as the ‘agricultural income’ and be brought into the tax net. As per the legislation, the income generated from livestock will also come under the tax net. The farmers with higher income will also face tax on income after the passage of the bill. The tax defaulters will also have to pay a total of 0.1 percent fine on their total income per day. According to Punjab Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman, a new ‘regime of agriculture’ was being established through this bill. According to the PPP parliamentary leader Syed Ali Haider Gilani, the government had not shared with them the draft of the bill.

He added that the PPP was a pro-farmer political party believing that the issue of Kissan was very sensitive. No pressure on the farmers could be endorsed, said Gilani.

PTI senior legislator Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan termed it a black day for agriculture, as the sector was being taxed.

He said the opposition came up with its recommendations in the standing committee but their proposals were not made part of the report presented before the House.

Rana Aftab further said the matter of legislation was related to the law minister and not minister for parliamentary affairs.

Rana Aftab said under Article 142, tax could not be imposed on agriculture adding that under such circumstances, the bill was clashing with the Constitution. PTI MPA from the rural side of Lahore, Ahmar Rasheed Bhatti criticized the government for passing an anti-farmer legislation. Opposition MPA from Multan Nadeem Qureshi while speaking on the floor of Punjab Assembly opposed the passage of bill and stated that imposing 40 percent tax on the farmers meant their economic murder.