BJP's peasant wing slams Debroy view on taxing agri income

The BJP's peasant wing today slammed NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy for his proposal to tax agriculture income, saying it undermines farmers' hard work and shows Debroy's "ignorance" of farming.
Kisan Morcha president and Lok Sabha MP Virendra Singh Mast said agriculture is the lifeblood of society and economy.
"Such an idea shows his ignorance of a farmer's way of living and agriculture," he said, taking a dig at Debroy.
At a press conference yesterday, Debroy had made a strong case for taxing agriculture income, an opinion contrary to the government's stated position.
"On expanding the base on the personal income tax side, other than elimination of exemptions, is to also tax rural sector, including agriculture income above certain threshold," he had said.

The government also swung into action to rule out any such move with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley insisting that there is no plan to impose any tax on agricultural income.
"I categorically state that the central government has no plan to impose any tax on agriculture income," he said in a tweet.