Mumbai: Zero ITR Filers Get Relief Under Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme; Taxpayers to Remain Ineligible

Mumbai, 28th July 2026: The Maharashtra government has clarified the income tax eligibility criteria under the Ahilyadevi Holkar Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme, providing major relief to farmers who have filed Zero Income Tax Returns (Zero ITR) for banking or other legal purposes. Officials said that filing a Zero ITR alone will not disqualify a farmer from receiving loan waiver benefits.

According to the Cooperation and Marketing Department, only those farmers who have actually paid income tax during any of the financial years from 2019–20 to 2025–26 will be considered ineligible for the scheme. Farmers who merely submitted a Zero ITR without paying income tax will continue to remain eligible, subject to other conditions.

The state government introduced the Ahilyadevi Holkar Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme with several eligibility criteria, one of the key conditions being that beneficiaries should not be income tax payers. Unlike previous loan waiver programmes, where tax records for one or two years were considered, the government has decided to examine income tax records spanning the last six financial years.

Officials said that farmers who paid income tax due to income earned through activities such as dairy farming, poultry farming, other allied businesses, or property transactions exceeding the prescribed taxable limit during the review period will not qualify for the loan waiver.

To assist applicants, the Cooperation Department has also launched a dedicated helpline (022) 49150802. Farmers can use the helpline to verify whether their names appear in the first beneficiary list, understand reasons for ineligibility, and seek clarification regarding the loan waiver process.

Cooperation Commissioner Deepak Taware said the objective of the scheme is to ensure transparency and extend the benefit only to eligible and genuinely needy farmers. He reiterated that farmers who filed only Zero ITRs for loan or banking purposes would not lose their eligibility, while the restriction applies solely to those who have paid income tax during the specified period.

The state government expects the clarification to remove confusion among farmers and streamline the implementation of the loan waiver scheme across Maharashtra.