Tax on farming subsidy

A CIRCULAR letter by the Inland Revenue Department stating that financial assistance in the agricultural sector would from now on be taxed yesterday provoked an intense reaction by the House Agriculture Committee.

“This is not an EU directive, it’s a decision by the Inland Revenue Department, which was made in the absence of the relevant minister,” the Chairman of the Committee, AKEL’s Yiannakis Thoma said after the meeting.

He said the letter had provoked an intense reaction by farmers, “especially seeing the serious problems currently faced in the agricultural sector”.

According to Thoma, no other EU country taxes agricultural benefits.

“As this is clearly down to political decisions, we have decided to invite the Finance Minister and Agriculture Minister to our next meeting for further discussions on the matter,” he concluded.

  

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