Which of the following are part of the Union List?

Question

Which of the following are part of the Union List?

i. Duties in respect of succession to property other than agricultural land

ii. Corporation tax

iii. Taxes on agricultural income

iv. Taxes on income other than agricultural income

Choose the correct answer:

1. A. i and ii only
2. B. i, ii and iii only
3. C. i, ii and iv only (Correct answer)
4. D. iii and iv only

Correct Answer

Option C — i, ii and iv only

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is i, ii and iv only.

Key Points

• Checking each against the Seventh Schedule:

• Statement iii is the odd one out. Agricultural income is a State subject for taxation, and its exclusion from the Union's income tax power is the deliberate pattern running through this question.
• The answer is therefore i, ii and iv.

Additional Information

• Notice the recurring phrase "other than agricultural land / agricultural income". Wherever the Union List gives the Centre a tax power, agriculture is carved out and left to the states — in income tax (Entry 82), estate duty (Entry 87), and succession duties (Entry 88 covering property other than agricultural land). The corresponding State List entries pick up exactly what the Union entries exclude.
• Other major Union List tax entries: customs duties (83), excise duties on tobacco and other goods manufactured in India excluding alcoholic liquors for human consumption (84), taxes on the capital value of assets excluding agricultural land (86), and terminal taxes on goods or passengers carried by railway, sea or air (89).
• Major State List tax entries: land revenue (45), taxes on agricultural income (46), duties of excise on alcoholic liquors for human consumption and narcotics (51), taxes on the consumption or sale of electricity (53), taxes on vehicles (57), and taxes on professions, trades and callings (60).
• The 101st Amendment Act, 2016 introduced GST, adding Article 246-A, which gives Parliament and the state legislatures concurrent power to make laws on goods and services tax, and restructured several of the older excise and sales tax entries. Petroleum crude, high-speed diesel, petrol, natural gas, aviation turbine fuel and alcohol for human consumption remain outside GST for now.
• The Union List has the largest number of subjects, and only Parliament may legislate on it — the design choice that gives the Indian federation its strong centre.