No wealth tax on agricultural land, assures Chidambaram

New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday assured a delegation of senior Congress leaders from Haryana, Punjab and Delhi that no wealth tax would be imposed on agricultural land in the country.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who led the delegation, said it submitted a representation to Chidambaram against the move to impose wealth tax on agriculture land falling within and around municipal limits.

“The finance minister has assured that he will make a statement on the floor of the house (parliament) while replying to the Finance Bill and no wealth tax will be imposed on agricultural land, whether within the municipal limit or outside the municipal limit,” Hooda said after the meeting here.

The delegation included union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, Punjab Congress president Pratap Singh Bajwa and MPs from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

The delegation urged the finance minister to intervene in the matter immediately. They requested Chidambaram to issue administrative directions to the Income Tax Department not to issue fresh notices seeking payment of wealth tax on agricultural land.

There have been concerns among agrarian states over the move by the central government to impose wealth tax on agricultural land falling within eight km of municipal limits across the country.

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