Bhopal: P K Mishra, the Income Tax Officer (ITO) of Harda district has written a letter to the deputy director of the Krishi Upaj Mandi of the district saying that payment of up to Rs 50,000 in cash to the farmers in return for their produce would not be violative of the provisions of the Income Tax Act.
“The person making such payment would not be violating the IT Act, 1961 and 1962,” he said in the letter. The letter has come handy for the BJP, which is claiming that there is no legal bar to pay Rs 50,000 in cash to the farmers. However, the Bhopal office of the Income Tax Department is unaware of the development. Patanjali, principal chief commissioner of Income Tax said that ITOs are not authorised to issues any orders. He said that he would seek details about the issue.
The issue of cap on cash payment has become a bone of contention between the farmers and the grain merchants in the state and the Mandis are witnesses clashes on the issue. The traders are not ready to pay more than Rs 20,000 in cash, saying that if they do so, they would invite action by the I-T department. The state government says that there is no such cap. Officers of the agriculture department claim that the traders are deliberately creating this confusion as they do not want to make cash payments to the farmers. Ajatshatru Shrivastava, commissioner of Bhopal has given in writing to the traders that they can and should pay Rs 50,000 in cash to the farmers but the controversy is showing no signs of abating. Principal secretary, agriculture Rajesh Rajora had said that the state government would be seeking guidance from the I-T department on the issue. But now has come the letter of a junior, district-level I-T officer, which has muddled the waters further and left the I-T mandarins surprised.
