LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to impose agricultural tax on big landowners in the province under the terms of the International Monetary Fund(IMF).

In order to meet IMF conditions, for the first time Punjab has approved the imposition of a super tax on big landowners who earn huge income from agriculture and inclusion of income from livestock in agriculture tax.

After the approval of the Punjab Cabinet through circulation, a draft of the bill ‘The Punjab Agriculture Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2024’ has been prepared to amend the Punjab Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1997, which will soon be presented in the Assembly for approval.

Under Sections 3 and 4 of the new law, farmers will now submit a statement of their total cultivated area or a return of total agricultural income.

According to the sources, under the new act, agricultural tax will not be based on land holding, but income based tax, while in Act 2024, the tax schedule mentioned in the Agricultural Income Tax Act of 1997 has been abolished.

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According to the sources, the meeting for the approval of the Amendment Act 2024 by the Punjab Assembly can be called on November 11, because after the approval of this bill, it is intended to provide a copy of its gazette notification to the IMF by November 15, 2024.