Income derived from farming land, building constructed or associated with farming land, and commercial products from farming land is called agricultural income. According to Section 10(1) of the Income Tax Act, agricultural income is exempt from tax. However, the government can levy tax if agricultuRead more
Income derived from farming land, building constructed or associated with farming land, and commercial products from farming land is called agricultural income.
According to Section 10(1) of the Income Tax Act, agricultural income is exempt from tax. However, the government can levy tax if agricultural income is above Rs 5,000.
Following are the sources to be considered for agricultural income according to the conditions mentioned in Section 2 (1A) of the Income Tax Act:
- Revenue generated through rent or lease of land in India that is used for agricultural purposes.
- Revenue generated through the commercial sale of produce gained from agricultural land.
- Revenue generated through the renting or leasing of buildings in and around the agricultural land subject to the following conditions:
- The cultivator or farmer should have occupied the building, either through rent or revenue.
- The building is used as a residential place, storeroom, or outhouse.
- The agricultural land or the land where the building is located, is being assessed for land revenue or subject to a local rate assessed.
If the land does not fall under the provisions stated above, the Income Tax Act requires a separate evaluation to calculate tax.
The Income-tax Act has laid down a method to indirectly tax such income.
This method or concept is called the partial integration of agricultural income with non-agricultural income. It aims at taxing the non-agricultural income at higher rates of tax.
Partial integration of agricultural income with non-agricultural income involves the following steps:
- For example, the base income of the individual is Rs. 20,000 and agricultural income is Rs 10,000, then we first have to calculate tax on Rs 30,000. For convenience, we can call this tax T(30,000)
- Assuming that the income falls under tax slab A, this tax slab A has to be added to the agricultural income and tax has to be calculated on it as well and it is called T(S+10,000).
- The final tax on the individual’s income will be T(30,000)- T(A+10,000)
The important step to keep in mind is to aggregate the agricultural income while calculating tax otherwise it can lead to double taxation, extra tax, or interest on tax.
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Introduction Income tax means the tax charged on the income of a person which the person has earned during a financial year. As per the Income-tax act, 1961, the income tax on income earned during a financial year is assessed in the following financial year and tax is to be paid on the assessed incoRead more
Introduction
Income tax means the tax charged on the income of a person which the person has earned during a financial year. As per the Income-tax act, 1961, the income tax on income earned during a financial year is assessed in the following financial year and tax is to be paid on the assessed income if payable.
The year in which the income is earned is called the Previous Year and the following year in which the previous year’s income is assessed is known as the Assessment Year
Steps involved in the computation of Income-tax of a person:
Determination of residential status of the person
The residential status of a person is of great significance for ascertaining the taxability of a person’s income as per the Income-tax act, 1961. As per the act, a person can fall into one of the following criteria:-
Classification and computation of income under the five heads of income
Now, a person’s income can be from various sources. As per section 14 of the Income-tax act, there are five main heads of income for computation of income tax:
Income under each head is to be computed as per provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Clubbing of income of spouse, minor child etc
Some individual taxpayers divert some portion of their income to their spouses and minor child in order to reduce their tax liability as the slab rate of income tax for individuals is progressive.
Such diverted income is to be clubbed with the income of the assessee as per the provisions of the Income-tax act.
Set-off and carry forward of losses
Losses suffered under the heads of the income like ‘Profit and Gains from Business and Profession’, ‘Income from House property’ can be set off against the income earned under other heads as per provision of the act.
If set off is not possible in the current assessment year then the loss can be carried forward to the next assessment year.
Computation of Gross Total Income
Gross Total Income is arrived at by computing the total of income under all five heads of income after giving necessary deductions as applicable under each head of income.
Deductions from Gross Total Income to arrive at Total Income
Income tax act, 1961 allows specific deduction from the Gross Total Income under sections 80C to 80U. These deductions are provided to encourage certain kinds of investments like life insurance premiums etc and provide relief on certain spending like medical expenses, interest expenses on home loans etc which leads to the overall welfare of the people.
After allowing the deductions from Gross Total Income, we arrive at Total Income.
Application of the rates of taxes on total income
Tax is calculated at a rate on the total income. The rate and calculation of income tax depend on the type of assessees.
Individuals and HUFs
For individuals who are below the age of 60 years and HUFs:
For individuals over 60 years and 80 years of age, the basic exemption limit is ₹3,00,000 and ₹5,00,000 respectively.
Also, as per section 115BAC, individuals and HUFs have the option to choose an alternative slab rate of tax as per which the income tax is charged at concessional rates. But, the various exemptions and deductions like housing rent allowance, leave travel concession, standard deduction on salary income cannot be availed. This slab rate system was introduced recently to reduce the complexity of filling IT returns by small taxpayers.
Rates of tax related to other types of assessees is not provided for sake of simplicity.
Advance tax and tax deducted at source
After calculating the tax on total income as per specified rates, the income tax amount is to be reduced by the advance tax and tax deducted at the source.
Tax payable/ Tax refundable
After performing all the steps above, we arrive at Income tax payable or tax refundable.
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