The government is not yet ready to exempt taxes on cash crops such as cardamom and oranges. This was highlighted by the finance minister, Namgay Dorji, in the National Assembly, yesterday.
The appeal on tax exemption on oranges and cardamom was put up by the Member of Parliament (MP) from Dophugchen Tading Constituency in Samtse, Tek Bahadur Subba.
“Taxes are imposed on cash crops mainly oranges and cardamom but there are some other cash crops which are excluded from taxes. There is no uniformity in taxation policy of agricultural products. Since government has plans to uplift the lives of rural people, providing cash crop incentives will be highly appreciated,” added MP Tek Bahadur Subba.
However, the finance minister overruled the appeal since tax exemption on cash crops is not possible.
“It will not be convenient to exempt taxes on cash crops since the system is already in place”.
Lyonpo Namgay Dorji also said among the five different categories of taxation, cash crop taxation is one of them. Some 158 farmers were imposed cash crop taxation in 2010 and their income was Nu 9.6M.
