PTI
New Delhi
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday warned of action against those passing off income from other sources as agriculture income but ruled out levying any tax on farm earnings.
Replying to the discussion on the Finance Bill 2016 in the Lok Sabha, he also ruled out withdrawal of the 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, a demand that was made by opposition Congress and ruling NDA constituent Shiv Sena.
The Minister said the government will act tough against those found to holding illegal offshore accounts as revealed in the Panama Papers leak under the recently passed stringent black money law.
In his hour-long reply, the Minister dwelt at length on the challenges facing the Indian economy and said the government will work to resolve the NPA problem of banks.
After the reply, the House passed the Finance Bill that marks the culmination of the three-stage budgetary process in the Lok Sabha. The Bill will now go to Rajya Sabha.
“There are two categories. One is honest agricultural income. You may have a large income which is a separate case.
That is a rare case. But there are some cases where people are passing off income from other sources as agriculture income.
That is a case of evasion. That will be dealt with under the law. That the assessing officer can deal with,” he said.
Jaitley said there was no proposal to tax agriculture income. “This category of people earning from agriculture in crores is very little. In any case, please remember, under the Constitution of India, the Centre has no power. It is a State subject.” The remarks assume significance in the context of a recent discussion on the issue in Rajya Sabha where Jaitley had warned Congress leaders not to cry political vendetta if he were to disclose those hiding other income as agri income.
Ruling out roll back of one per cent excise duty levied on non-silver jewellery, Jaitley took jibe at the Congress for its hatred for “suits” but love gold.
Jaitley said while prosecution has been launched in the HSBC list where Rs 6,500 crore of undisclosed assets had come to light, and the Lichtenstein list.
Also, Rs 4,000-4,250 crore had been disclosed under the foreign black money law.
Besides, through assessments another Rs 71,000 crore of black money had been unearthed, he said.
On the Panama Papers leak, he said tax notices have gone to all the names of those holding offshore accounts that have been disclosed and action will be taken against those illegally parking money abroad. Jaitley said if the Congress had objections to the levy of one per cent excise duty on jeweller, it can begin by removing the 5 per cent VAT on bullion in Kerala where it rules.
Moving some amendments to the Finance Bill introduced by him on February 28 along with demands for grants and appropriation bill, he listed out measures taken by the BJP government in last two years to give relief to small tax payers and reduce tax litigation.
On his last year's proposal to bring down corporate tax rate to 25 per cent in phases, Jaitley said he had linked it to phasing out of exemptions. “This year nothing has been phased out” so the tax remains at 30 per cent, he said.
But, a flat 25 per cent tax rate is provided for new manufacturing units that claim no exemption.
