As per the State List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, the States have jurisdiction over agricultural land in connection with which of the following subjects? 1. Taxes on agricultural income 2. Duties in respect of succession of agricultural land 3. Estate duty in respect of agricultural land Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)1 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Correct — D, 1, 2 and 3. All three sit consecutively in List II of the Seventh Schedule. Entry 46 is 'Taxes on agricultural income'; Entry 47 is 'Duties in respect of succession to agricultural land'; Entry 48 is 'Estate duty in respect of agricultural land'. The drafters deliberately carved agricultural land out of the Union's revenue powers, so wherever the Union List gives Parliament a tax head — income tax under Entry 82, succession duty under Entry 88, estate duty under Entry 87 — the same head appears in the State List with the words 'agricultural land' or 'agricultural income' attached, and the Union entry is expressly worded to exclude agriculture.
- (a)1 and 2 only — Leaves out estate duty on agricultural land, which is Entry 48 of the State List. Estate duty as a levy was abolished in 1985, but the legislative entry remains where it always was.
- (b)2 and 3 only — Drops the best-known of the three. Taxes on agricultural income are Entry 46 of the State List, which is exactly why agricultural income is exempt from Union income tax under the Income-tax Act.
- (c)1 and 3 only — Omits succession duty on agricultural land, Entry 47, which sits between the other two in the same run of entries.
The Seventh Schedule divides legislative subjects into List I (Union), List II (State) and List III (Concurrent). Taxation entries are exclusive — a tax head appears in one list only, and residuary taxing power lies with Parliament. Agriculture is the clearest case of a subject fenced off for the States: land, land revenue, agriculture as such, and the tax heads that attach to agricultural land and agricultural income are all in List II.
The reliable way through this item is to notice the pattern rather than memorise numbers. Ask of each option, 'does the Union List version of this tax carve out agriculture?' It does in every case, so the agricultural half must live in the State List, and 'all three' becomes the natural answer. The trap is the opposite instinct — students who know that income tax and estate duty are Central levies assume the Centre must therefore have the agricultural versions too. It is worth remembering that having the power is not the same as using it: most States levy no agricultural income tax at all, plantation States such as Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal being the main exceptions, and estate duty was given up nationally in 1985 without the entry itself being deleted.
- State List Entry 46 — Taxes on agricultural income.
- State List Entry 47 — Duties in respect of succession to agricultural land.
- State List Entry 48 — Estate duty in respect of agricultural land.
- Union List Entry 82 covers taxes on income 'other than agricultural income'; Entries 87 and 88 similarly cover estate duty and succession duty on property 'other than agricultural land'.
- Assuming the Centre taxes all income and therefore all agricultural income too.
- Thinking that a repealed tax — estate duty, abolished in 1985 — means a deleted legislative entry.
- Confusing 'agriculture' as a subject (State List Entry 14) with the separate tax entries that mention agricultural land.
Either as a three-statement list like this one, or as a single 'which subject is under which List' item — so learn the tax entries in blocks rather than one by one.
Which one of the following subjects is under the Union List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India?
- (a) Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields
- (b) Agriculture
- (c) Fisheries
- (d) Public health
Answer(a) Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields
The same Schedule, sorted the other way. That item works because agriculture, fisheries and public health are State subjects — the very principle that puts all three agricultural tax heads in List II here.
CDS_GK_2021_II_Q732021Which one of the following is not correct?
- (a) Taxes on agricultural income is a subject under the State List.
- (b) Price control is a subject under the Concurrent List.
- (c) Insurance does not come under the Union List.
- (d) 'Forests' is a subject under the Concurrent List.
Answer(c) Insurance does not come under the Union List.
Option (a) of that 2021 CDS item states statement 1 of this one and marks it correct — CDS has now tested 'taxes on agricultural income is a State subject' in two keyed papers.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Taxes on agricultural income fall under which List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India?
- (a)Union List
- (b)State List
- (c)Concurrent List
- (d)None — it is a residuary subject
Answer(b) State List — Entry 46 of List II.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a subject under the Union List of the Seventh Schedule?
- (a)Estate duty in respect of agricultural land
- (b)Taxes on agricultural income
- (c)Taxes on income other than agricultural income
- (d)Duties in respect of succession to agricultural land
Answer(c) Taxes on income other than agricultural income — Union List Entry 82; the other three are State List entries.