Big farmers to be taxed, says Zardari

President calls for adopting collective approach

LAHORE:

The government would Levy a tax on big agriculturists on the pattern of income tax, which was a condition agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), President Asif Zardari said on Tuesday.

Addressing a seminar to mark the death anniversary of Prof Waris Mir in Lahore, and later visiting the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudary Shujaat Hussain, the president stressed the need for adopting a collective approach.

Addressing the seminar, Zardari said that he saw agriculture, agri-farming and agro-industry as the future. However, apparently chiding his ally at the Centre, he added that “some don’t believe in agriculture and they don’t understand it”.

He said that the government would be imposing tax on agriculturists, but only the big ones. “Small farmers will be exempted. This tax, to be imposed by provincial governments, is a condition of the IMF, which they are okay with,” the president added.

“It will be similar to the income tax, whereby the agriculturists will show their expenses, including what they have given to peasants,” he continued. “The tax will be [levied] on profits,” he said, adding in a lighter vein, “We’ll assume that our yield has dropped.”

The president said that he supported the media freedom, but not an “agenda-driven journalism”. He told the gathering that some media owners were his friends, but he never asked them to censor any material, because he was “cognisant of its price”.

He paid rich tributes to late Prof Waris Mir. Referring to an allegation levelled by Mir’s son that his father was poisoned, the president said that his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) suffered assassinations of its leaders throughout its history, including Murtaza Bhutto, Shahnawaz Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

Later, the president, along with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Chaudary Shujaat and enquired after his health. Shujaat both sons, Federal Minister Salak Hussain and provincial Minister Shafay Hussain were also president on the occasion.