Punjab employees directed to show agricultural earnings in income-tax returns

The Punjab vigilance department on Thursday cautioned all government employees to “properly” show the income from agriculture in their income tax returns.

According to an official release here, it has been noticed some employees/officers were not following instructions in this regard.

“According to the Income Tax Act, income received by employee/officer is not exempted from income tax, as this exemption is available only to those who are engaged in agriculture as a full-time profession,” the release said.

It also said for the government employees, the income from agriculture has to be included in their salaries and would be classified as standard deduction. It also said failure to disclose income from agriculture would amount to concealment of income and would invite action according to law.

“Some government employees are not showing income from agriculture in their income tax returns citing a logic that this income is tax free," the release said, adding that instructions have been issued to all heads of departments to inform their employees to include agriculture income in their gross income.