Indian agriculture provides 57% of India's total employment and 73% of India's total rural
employment. In the Indian agricultural scenario, per capita availability of cultivated land
declined from 0.27 ha to 0.18 ha between 1980 and 2007 and 58% of people directly worked
on farms/farm-related jobs. The farm lands are being increasingly used for residential and
other purposes and the village people are moving to nearby towns and cities for better
economic opportunities. In many villages, poor rural infrastructure (roads, power, schools, hospitals,
and police) is prevalent.
In the last five years, the share of agriculture has declined to less than 20% but the number
of people depending on agriculture has not changed. Hence, the gap between the rural and
urban income levels has widened. Therefore, it is more important to keep record of
transactions happening in this sector for a farmer or an agriculture-dependent
person.
The government has invested a lot of amount in the agricultural sector till now. All
economic reforms are made considering the protection of agricultural-development. It has less tax
burden than the non-agricultural sectors, consisting Direct taxes such as Land Revenue and
Agricultural Income Tax; and Indirect taxes like Excise Duty, Customs Duty and Sales Tax. There is great
scope for increase in agricultural taxation, especially upon the higher income groups. |
