Income earned by a co-operative society from the following activities shall be exempted from the payable tax, namely:—

(a) production of crop;

(b) operation of cottage industry;

(c) marketing of agricultural produce by its members.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this section, “cottage industry” means an enterprise, not being registered with a joint stock company, where—

(a) the owner of the business is the investor, a full-time worker and the actual entrepreneur;

(b) the capital invested in plant, machinery and equipment of the plant does not exceed Taka 25 (twenty-five) lakh at any time during the income year;

(c) the number of workers, including the owner and the members of his family, does not exceed 15 (fifteen).