\n\u201cThe legal situation is nothing prevents state governments from taxing agriculture income. The constitutional restriction is on central government taxing agriculture income,\u201d Subramanian told reporters here on the sidelines of the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
\n\u201cThere too, one could make a case that this is a choice open to 29 state governments and if there are willing takers, all power to them,\u201d he said.
\nThe CEA also stressed the need to make a clear distinction between the rich and poor farmers.
\nEarlier this week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government has no plans to impose any tax on agricultural income.
\n\u201cI categorically state that the central government has no plan to impose any tax on agriculture income,\u201d Jaitley said in a tweet, clarifying that the Centre has no constitutional authority to tax agricultural income.
\nTalking to reporters here on Tuesday, NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy had said that taxes should be imposed on agricultural income above a certain threshold in order to expand the tax base.
\n\u201cThe eventual answer to expanding the tax base is to tax the rural sector, including agricultural income above a certain threshold,\u201d Debroy had said.
\n\u201cWhile only the agricultural income of farmers is exempt from taxation, their non-agricultural income also goes un-taxed.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t believe in the artificial rural-urban distinctions. So, whatever is the threshold of personal income tax in urban areas should be for the rural areas as well,\u201d Debroy added.
\nThe NITI Aayog, in a statement on Wednesday, said Debroy\u2019s suggestion is neither the view of the Aayog \u201cnor is such a recommendation made anywhere in the Draft Action Agenda document as circulated to the Governing Council at the meeting on 23rd April 2017\u201d.
\n\u201cNITI Aayog notes that the views on taxing farm income expressed by Member Bibek Debroy were personal and not those of the Aayog,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"