Agriculture in India is the means of livelihood of almost two thirds of the work force in the country. It has always been INDIA'S most important economic sector.
The question of introducing agriculture tax on various farm incomes has been a contentious issue for years. Tax on farm income will inspire the farmer to face the state of affairs optimistically. The Indian farmer is pessimistic and believes that he is caught in a vicious circle of underdevelopment and that agriculture is a gamble with the monsoon. Like other sector agriculture is a business activity hence it should be taxed. Many businessmen are misdeclaring their incomes as from agriculture and non-agriculturalsources, perhaps the time has come for the government to seriously consider fixing, a threshold beyond which their income from agricultural sources could be brought under the tax.
But this move should be strongly opposed on the following grounds:
Agriculture income falls within the jurisdiction of the state governments. It will only end in the harassment of poor and marginal farmers who have already lost all will to fight a government mechanism. Agriculture is not a business activity for majorityof farmers it is a life sustaining activity. For many years fertilizer costs are exorbitant inspite of the subsidy. Power supply is erratic and it is almost impossible for plan lift irrigation due to various infrastructural bottlenecks and vagaries of monsoon .agriculture is not a profitable business in India. Farmer’s suicides and large rural to urban migration is the best evidence for it. Taxing agriculture will demoralize industrious farmers endangering India’s food security.
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