PESHAWAR Nov 12: The NWFP government drive for agriculture income tax returns has turned out to be a poor show, as landed gentry of the province is unwilling to file returns, according to official sources.

Under the NWFP Land Tax and Agriculture Income Tax Ordinance, 2000 — introduced by the provincial government in July 2000 — owners of landholdings involving up to 50 acres or more land in the irrigated areas and 100 acres or more in the un- irrigated area were required to file return, on the prescribed form, about their agriculture income for the assessment year of 2000-01 financial year by Sept 30 last.

Later, the last date for filing the return was extended to Oct 15 due to ‘very poor response’ by the landed gentry of the province, said the sources.

Similarly, farmers having recorded a total agriculture income of more than Rs200,000 were also required to file the return in line with the rule-8 of the NWFP Agriculture Income Tax Rules, 2001.

Out of the 23 districts and one tribal agency the province has, agriculture income tax is enforced in 16 districts including the districts of Peshawar, Nowshera, D.I.Khan, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Mardan, Swabi, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Abbottabad, Haripur, Batgram, Tank, Mansehra and Charsadda.

The provincial government, said the official sources, had anticipated — on the basis of information provided by the revenue collectors of these districts — to receive, at least, some 730 income returns in view of the landholdings of 50 acres and above in the case of irrigated area and 100 acres and above in the case of un-irrigated areas the province has.

However, despite extending the deadline for filing the tax returns by 15 days the province received return much less than the anticipated number of returns.

Out of the total 16 districts where the agriculture income tax ordinance is effective the provincial government had anticipated to receive agriculture income returns, at least, from seven districts including Peshawar, D.I. Khan, Mardan, Swabi, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Charsadda.

Just over 80 income tax returns have been filed, by as many owners of landholdings belonging to five districts out of the seven that had been figured out in respect of filing of returns.

Only Lakki Marwat is one such district where returns have been filed by the total number of farmers/owners of landholdings who had been targeted for the same.

The government was expecting to receive 18 returns from Lakki Marwat and all of the persons identified for the same had filed their returns, said the sources.

The response from the central districts of the province including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi — housing large number of cultivated areas — has been very negligible.

Not only that the number of agriculture income returns filed is negligible, the money deposited with the returns also appears to be very marginal.

“The provincial exchequer received just less than Rs100,000 against over Rs1.1m amount the provincial government had expected to raise, along with the returns, from the districts of Peshawar, D.I. Khan, Swabi and other districts,” said the sources.

In none of the districts — of the seven from where 730 returns had been anticipated to be filed — tax money had been deposited in line with the estimates that had been made by the authorities concerned causing major set back to the government’s endeavours, under a unified policy of the federal government, to make landed gentry of the province to file returns of their agriculture income.