Introduction:
The GST Act came in force from 1st July, 2017. There were many interpretation issues with respect to the definitions, glossary and terms use in the law. Since, such definitions were adopted from various legacy laws in India prior to GST; such as Service Tax, State VAT, Central Excise Act, Luxury Tax, Entertainment Tax, etc. it was difficult to make applicable one definition for different sectors. Hence, some modifications from existing definitions were made. Therefore, it was important to established a nexus of the terms used in the GST definitions. The definition discussed here is “Agriculturist”.
So what do you mean by “Agriculturist”?
Section 2(7) of CGST Act, 2017 – “agriculturist” means an individual or a Hindu Undivided Family who undertakes cultivation of land—
(a) by own labour, or
(b) by the labour of family, or
(c) by servants on wages payable in cash or kind or by hired labour under personal supervision or the personal supervision of any member of the family;
Conclusion:
Hence, it is understood that an individual or HUF who undertakes cultivation on his own labour or by the labour of family or by the servants or any member of family would be called an Agriculturist.