Income tax paid by legislators revealed

[HAIDER]

Of the 319 MNAs who filed their tax returns, 108 paid no tax at all.




ISLAMABAD: “Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.”

The first “Parliamentarians Tax Directory”, issued by the Federal Board of Revenue on Saturday, attests to these remarks made by an American novelist.

Barring a few worthy exceptions, the sums paid as income tax by most of the elected representatives are laughably low. Putting it mildly, the returns do not match their princely lifestyle.

Of the 319 MNAs who filed their tax returns, 108 paid no tax at all.

The MNAs who paid less than Rs100 as income tax include Asyia Naz Tanoli (Rs88), Tahir Bashir Cheema (Rs55) and Mohammad Zain Elahi (Rs72).

According to the directory, senators paid more income tax than members of the National Assembly in 2013. Eighty-six senators filed their tax returns while three paid nothing.

Out of 89 senators, Federal minister Abbas Khan Afridi from tribal areas paid highest income tax of Rs17.991 million, while Naseema Ehsan paid lowest Rs6,750.

Among the senators who paid over Rs5 million as income tax, Talha Mehmood topped them with Rs12.940m, followed by Aitzaz Ahsan (Rs8.763m) and Dr Farogh Naseem (Rs7.868m).

The senators who paid more than Rs1m include Heman Dass (Rs2.942m), Osman Saifullah Khan (Rs2.739m), Abdul Haseeb Khan (Rs2.456m), Malik Rafique Rajwana (Rs1.207m) and Saleem Mandviwalla (Rs1.145m).

Although their names exist on the tax roll, 14 senators have not filed their returns.

Three senators also paid income support levy which was imposed on movable assets in the budget 2013-14. They are Osman Saifullah Khan (Rs379,247), Finance Minister Ishaq Dar (Rs2.701m) and Prof Sajid Mir (Rs21,219).

National Assembly

Hamza Shahbaz, son of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, paid Rs4.383m as income tax.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif paid income tax of Rs2.646m.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi paid Rs1.205m, Obaid Ullah Shadi Khel (Rs1.256m), Chaudhry Shahbaz Babar (Rs1.075m), Sheikh Akram (Rs1.007m), Khwaja Saad Rafique (Rs1.215m) and Chaudhry Iftikhar Nazir (Rs1.213m).

As many as 23 MNAs have not filed their returns, but their names are on the tax rolls.

Tariq Christopher Qaiser paid the highest income support levy of Rs568,859, followed by Sheikh Aftab Ahmad (Rs19,475), Khawaja Asif (Rs19,607) and Syed Ali Hassan Gilani (Rs14,333).

The tax directory shows that 16 MNAs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from tribal areas, 38 from Punjab; 21 from Sindh, five from Balochistan, nine females on reserved seats from Punjab, six on reserved seats from Sindh and two from minorities did not pay any income tax.

Punjab Assembly

Out of the total 353 members of the Punjab Assembly, who field tax returns, 176 paid no tax.

Although their names exist on the tax roll, 18 did not file returns.

Arshad Javaid Warraich is the highest tax-payer with Rs17.696m, followed by Sheikh Aladdin (Rs11.029m), Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif (Rs3.644m), Chaudhry Raza Ghumman (Rs3.574m), Ghazali Saleem Butt (Rs2.839m), Mohammad Siddique Khan (Rs1.860m, Raja Rashid Hafeez (Rs1.306m, Zulfiqar Ali Khan (Rs1.201m), Aamir Sultan Cheema (Rs1.151m, Mehmood Anwar (Rs1.412m) and Hashim Jawan Bukht (Rs1.734m).

Ten Punjab MPAs who paid income support levy include Ashraf Warraich (Rs10,600) Mian Tariq Mehmood (Rs165,160), Mohammad Akram (Rs297,592), Khawaja Akram (Rs297,592) Khawaja Mansha Ullah Butt (Rs12,924), Rana Abdul Sattar (Rs12,924), Liaqat Ali (74,368), Rana Mohammad Afzal (37,513), Arshad Javaid Warraich (Rs864,107) and Syed Iftikhar Hassan Gillani (Rs59,609).

Sindh Assembly

Out of the 153 members of the Sindh Assembly who filed returns, 95 did not pay income tax.

There are 15 MPAs who did not file returns, but their names exist on the tax roll.

Syed Awais Qadir Shah is the highest tax-payer with Rs18.741m, followed by Moeen Amir Pirzada (Rs3.476m), Haji Khuda Bux Rajar (Rs1.784m) and Abdul Rauf Siddiqui (Rs1.779m).

Imdad Ali Pitafi is the lowest tax-payer with Rs925, followed by Abdul Karim Soomro (Rs1,000), Ahmad Ali Khan Pitafi (Rs1,090) and Jam Madad Ali (Rs1,278).

Only Khurram Sher Zaman paid Rs65,857 as income support levy.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly

Of the 97 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, who field their returns, 61 did not pay income tax.

While their names exist on the tax roll, 27 MPAs did not file tax returns.

Noor Saleem Malik paid highest Rs11.512m as income tax, followed by Amjad Khan Afridi (Rs3.881m), Iftikhar Ali Mushwani (Rs3.249m) and Sardar Zahoor Ahmad (Rs2.028m.

Haji Qalandar Khan Lodi and Shah Hussain Khan paid only Rs1,000 each.

Zia Ullah Afridi (Rs97,072) and Raja Faisal Zaman (Rs8, 333) are the two MPAs who paid income support levy.

Balochistan Assembly

Out of the 61 members of the Balochistan Assembly, 44 did not pay income tax. Four MPAs did not even file tax returns.

Mir Hammal paid highest Rs1.970m, while Shahida Raouf only Rs2,000.

Prince Ahmed Ali is the only MPA from Balochistan who paid Rs3,850 as income support levy.
dawn.com

 

[Jazzbot]

All lawmakers who do not pay taxes should be disqualified immediately.

 

[Devil Soul]

Making history: Tax details of lawmakers made public, finally
By Shahbaz Rana
Published: February 16, 2014

ISLAMABAD:
For the first time in the country’s history, the government published tax details of parliamentarians on Saturday, reinforcing the view that Pakistani lawmakers are contributing very little to the national exchequer.

The Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory, published by the Federal Board of Revenue, reveals that while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif paid Rs2.65 million in income tax, he did not pay anything under the Income Support Levy (ISL) – a move that would imply the premier owns no ‘moveable’ assets.

The government has imposed the ISL at the rate of 0.5% of the value of all moveable assets an individual owns. Earnings from the ISL will go straightway to beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Fund.

Like Premier Nawaz, his brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, paid Rs3.64 million in income tax and nothing under the ISL. Similarly, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah did not pay anything under ISL and paid just Rs62,214 in income tax.

The chief ministers of Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa also did not pay anything under the ISL – Qaim Ali Shah and Pervaiz Khattak paid Rs33,724 and Rs300,494 in income tax, respectively – while their counterpart from Balochistan, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, did not pay income tax.

Premier Nawaz’s cabinet, like him, appeared to have earned a ‘modest’ income and paid very little in taxes, according to the directory.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the main proponent behind the imposition of ISL, paid just Rs824,891 in income tax and Rs2.7 million under the ISL.

The ministers for information, interior, commerce and science, did not pay anything under the ISL. Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid paid Rs20,959 in income tax, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar paid Rs57,124, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir paid just Rs21,111 and Science and Technology Minister Zahid Hamid paid Rs190,256.

Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who owns an airline, paid nothing under the ISL either and paid just Rs1.2 million in income tax.

Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Asif, known to be very wealthy, paid just Rs58,719 in income tax while Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal paid a paltry sum of Rs11,084.

Meanwhile, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique paid Rs1.2 million in income tax, National Food Security Minister Sikandar Hayat paid Rs404,485, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab paid Rs315,313, State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman paid Rs135,750 and State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali paid just Rs22,722.

Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Peerzada and Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Tarar paid as low as Rs15,254 and Rs10,371 in income tax, respectively.

Sindh Assembly member Syed Awais Qadir Shah paid the highest income tax, Rs18.74 million, among all lawmakers. He was followed by Senator Abbas Khan Afridi who paid around Rs18 million. Punjab Assembly member Chaudhry Arshad Javed Warraich came in third with Rs17.7 million in income tax and Rs846,107 under the ISL.

Sisters of former president Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur and Azra Fazl Pechuho paid Rs243,907 and Rs279,001 in income tax, respectively. Neither of them paid anything under the ISL. Faryal Talpur’s husband, Munawar Talpur, also skipped out on the ISL while paying Rs68,333 in income tax.

Others who skipped out on the ISL include Hamza Shahbaz, Chaudhry Moonis Ilahi, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Farooq Sattar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Arif Alvi and Asad Umar, and Pakistan Peoples Party’s Raza Rabbani.

Hamza Shahbaz paid Rs4.4 million in income tax, Asad Umar paid Rs532,918, Moonis Elahi paid Rs519,455, Raza Rabbani paid Rs316,542, Arif Alvi paid Rs184,303 and Farooq Sattar paid Rs70,888 while, Maulana Fazlur Rehman paid a meagre Rs13,462.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq paid Rs148,868, Senate Chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari paid Rs262,024 and his deputy Sabir Ali Baloch paid just Rs90,511 in income tax. Senator Aitzaz Ahsan paid Rs8.8 million income tax.

Speaking to the media, FBR spokesman Shahid Hussain Asad said the publication of the Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory was an important step towards ensuring transparency and making voters aware about whether their representatives were paying taxes or not.

Out of the total 1,172 lawmakers from parliament and the four provincial assemblies, 1,072 filed their income tax returns for the tax year which ended on June 30, 2013.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2014.

 

[SBD-3]

 

[Khan_patriot]

All who do not pay must be relieved of their seats immediately, how can one expect the entire country to pay taxes of the legislators dont do it......

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

All who do not pay must be relieved of their seats immediately, how can one expect the entire country to pay taxes of the legislators dont do it......

who will relieve them