Tareen, family gifted Rs1,647m to each other in five years
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Tareen, family gifted Rs1,647m to each other in five years
By
Fasihur Rehman Khan
January 25, 2017
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National
Tareen says gift transactions normal under law; PTI chief Imran Khan keeps quiet or may be ignorant
ISLAMABAD:
PTI Chief Imran Khan’s right hand man and party secretary general Jehangir Khan Tareen used the ‘instrument of gifts’ to the tune of Rs1,647 million from 2009-2013 (mentioned duly in his wealth statements) he gave to family etc and vice versa, hollowing claim of party chief who had recently mocked such transactions done by the Sharif family.
Such transactions may be 100 per cent legal, but as Imran himself pleads, moral side of such practices by political elite must be scrutinized. So when the Sharif family exchanges gifts to the tune of Rs 510 million (for four years period till 2012), Tareen family utilizes the same instrument to the tune of Rs1,647 million from 2009-13, according to documents exclusively available to The News.
"I have one of the best records as a taxpayer and all my records regarding gifts to the family and vice versa are furnished in the tax statement. I have nothing to hide as I always do legal transactions," said Jehangir Khan Tareen when contacted by this correspondent on phone. "It’s a normal thing to transact such gifts under the Pakistani law. All these gifts are duly mentioned and explained in the tax records of mine as well as my children who run independent businesses," Tareen explained. Asked about the moral side of these transactions which some dub as legal tax evasion, Tareen said he does not believe in tax evasion, and his tax returns are a testament to his clean records.
He said there was a huge difference between gift transactions of his family and the same being scrutinized regarding the Sharif family in Panama case these days. "Questions are being asked whether Sharifs used these transactions to whiten their money from abroad. I just want to point out, and this question should be asked from the Sharifs that why don't they pay dividends to shareholders in the case of the two sugar mills, Chaudhry and Ramzan Sugar mills? That is just to conceal profits. While I pay all the dividends to shareholders of my mills, JDW," he added.
Imran Khan on January 20, through press talk, and later on through a tweet, had mocked the ruling Sharif family after pointed questions were asked by Supreme Court judges during Panama case hearing regarding gifts transacted between Premier Nawaz Sharif and his children to the tune of Rs510 million, during four years, till 2012.
The apex court judges had observed that they wanted to see records of the transactions, observing that it signaled that a significant amount of money had been circulating. As the Panama case against Premier Sharif and his children is being fought in high spirits in the apex court, and more ferociously in media interactions after every hearing by both the PTI and PML-N sides, the moral aspect of this political case is discomforting for both the sides. As Imran and aides call for resignation of the premier on moral grounds almost every day, they go conspicuously silent when asked about deeds and financial practices of their ace leaders.
But Imran perhaps didn’t know that his top lieutenants were engaged in the same practices throughout the past years, even though it falls under the head of legal evasion of taxes provided under the tax laws of the country. Interestingly, last year, as PanamaLeaks came to surface with a big bang courtesy ICIJ, Imran termed the offshore companies as illegal, a dishonest discourse to hide money and wealth outside the country. Later on, to the surprise of many, it was revealed that the PTI chief himself had such an offshore company. And his top lieutenants like Jehangir Tareen and Aleem Khan had done transactions through such concerns.
In the case of Tareen, Tax officials say on anonymity, his tax returns are well documented and scrutinized. And his financial transactions (through gifts) can be further scrutinized if any state institution or court asks for the same.
In the case of Jehangir Khan Tareen (JKT) as mentioned in his wealth statements from 2009-13 (NTN code 0962587) he (Tareen) gifted Rs72.8 million to his son Ali Khan Tareen (tax year 2009) and children gifted a sum of Rs45.6 million to their father. In 2010, as per tax documents, Tareen’s children gifted Rs63.5 million to their father JKT. And his wife Amina Tareen gifted Rs7 million to her son Ali Tareen.
Then in 2011 JKT gave gifts to the tune of Rs867.4 million to (recipient not mentioned, but details must have been mentioned separately in tax forms). His children gifted Rs91.5 million to (not mentioned). His wife, Amina Tareen, gifted Rs54 million to (not mentioned).
In 2012, JKT gifted Rs129.9 million to (not mentioned). His wife, Amina Tareen, gifted Rs27.9 million to (not mentioned). His children gifted Rs153 million to (not mentioned).
In 2013 JKT gifted Rs29.9 million to (not mentioned). Children gifted Rs104.8 million to (not mentioned.)
