Agricultural income help them turn black into white

Bengaluru: Politicians, bureaucrats and others rolling in black money  are exploring various ways of legitimizing it. One possibility they are reportedly looking at is claiming the money is agricultural income as it is exempted from penalty.

The claim can be easily made as most hoarders have invested in farmland across the state, besides commercial and residential sites. Agricultural income earned by a taxpayer in the country is exempt from penalty under Section 10(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Section 2(1A) of the Act defines agricultural income as any rent or revenue earned from land used for farming or  for processing of agricultural produce to make it fit for the market. Any income attributable to a farm-house or derived from saplings or seedlings grown in a nursery also fits the definition.

All that the hoarders need to produce is the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) to the Income Tax (IT) and revenue officers to make their claim. This is easily done as most officials  have either inherited or bought agricultural land.

Interestingly, demonetization has had little impact on those who have converted their black money into parallel currencies like US dollars and euros. While they were looking for higher value currency, their greed has helped them in the recent demonitisation, say sources.