& #8216;No Farm Tax, Keep Exemptions & #8217;

The Rajnath Singh committee has summarily rejected the recommendation of the Kelkar task force to tax agricultural income.

It has also suggested the imposition of dividend distribution tax on companies instead of taxing dividend at the hand of recipients. The Kelkar committee had sought exemptions to companies as well as recipients.

The Rajnath Singh committee has also raised objections over the proposals to withdraw tax exemptions on housing loans and export-oriented units in the software sector.

After a brainstorming session of committee members this afternoon, the Rajnath Singh committee declined to moderate its stance on the taxation of farm income.

However, the government is believed to have persuaded the committee to tone down its objections to the Kelkar report on other proposals.

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has spoken to Rajnath Singh on the issue, explaining him about the positive impact of the Kelkar committee