PESHAWAR, May 29: NWFP government has received only 117 agriculture income tax returns from total 676 big landlords, according to official sources.

As per the Land Tax and Agriculture Income Tax Ordinance, 2000, owners of landholdings and farmers whose annual income, from means of agriculture activity, exceeds Rs 80,000 are liable to file income tax return.

On the basis of information gathered from the districts covered under the ordinance, those expected to file income tax returns include 91 in the Peshawar district, 54 in Charsadda district, 73 in Mardan district, five in Swabi district and 453 in the rain-fed Dera Ismail Khan district.

Against that the provincial government has so far during the current financial year received 117 agriculture income tax returns: 34 in Peshawar district, only seven in Charsadda district, 28 in Mardan district and 48 out of 453 in Dera Ismail Khan district, and in Swabi, all the five farmers/landlords identified as potential income generating parties failed to file returns.

The returns filed so far makes only 17 per cent of the total number of income tax returns the NWFP government was expecting to receive during the current financial year. The government, said the sources, had set a target Rs3.9m from the agriculture income tax component of the land tax and agriculture income tax ordinance, 2000.

Against that amount the province has so far raised just over Rs100,000 in addition to recovering Rs1.5m from the arrears accumulated against the farmer community over the years due to non-payment of agriculture income tax in the last financial year.