Pakistan

Axact chief executive paid Rs26 in income tax last year

Rs26 income tax puts Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh's monthly income at Rs33,377

Web Desk May 19, 2015

Axact CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh. PHOTO: AXACT/FACEBOOK

Following an earth-shattering report on Axact’s global operations published in the New York Times on May 18, Atlantic Media group’s digital publication Quartz on Tuesday took a deeper look at Axact’s chief executive and founder.

Read: Fake diplomas, real cash: Pakistani company Axact reaps millions

The man who wanted to be “richer than Bill Gates” and whose company claims to have a presence in “six continents, 120 countries and 1300 cities”, paid only Rs26 in income tax in 2014, a fact first made public by journalist Ahmed Noorani in mid-April, the report found.

FBR SCREENGRAB

Based on the lowest individual tax rate in Pakistan, Shaikh’s total declared annual income was just Rs400,520, or Rs33,377 a month.

FBR SCREENGRAB

Read: FIA takes Axact employees into custody, seizes equipment following Nisar’s orders

The Quartz report found that Axact was only registered in June 2006, according to the records of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and only had paid up capital of Rs6 million, according to SECP’s 2010 records.

Read: Axact threatens to sue Pak Tea House for rounding up Twitter reactions

Last fiscal year, Axact paid a little above Rs1.8 million in corporate tax according to FBR, putting the company’s earnings a little above Rs5.5 million (at a 34% corporate tax rate)

COMMENTS (14)

sk | 8 years ago | Reply If this country has to run on investigative reports by newyork times than what about the previous ones by this so called authentic reporter?

hope | 8 years ago | Reply What a shame, FIA was waiting for Nisar's order to do their job? FIA and all involved departments should be punished for sleeping and not doing their job. ET, please DO NOT publish ID CARD and NTN Numbers on news paper, you are such an ignorant person. Thanks

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subhaan | 8 years ago | Reply I am so disappointed with your comments. Get a grip on yourself people and see the reality. Axact is not the criminal. If anyone had the chance to talk to the employee and the corporate environment of the company you would know what the owner has done for the society. Pakistani's should know how to differentiate between the good and the bad. i have worked in multiple organisations and even news channels to know better what goes on over there and how news is manipulated for personal benefits. So open your eyes and support company for a fair trial.

Char Latan | 8 years ago | Reply Who says nobody pays income tax in Pakistan.

Paki Boy | 8 years ago | Reply I know ET won't publish but if they do then I would like to educate people that all IT BUSINESSES IN PAKISTAN ARE EXEMPTED OF INCOME TAX TILL 2016!

H Chaudhry | 8 years ago | Reply @Rawalpindi Kid something to agree upon with you here:) I think the money offered was too much to lure these journalists.

Rawalpindi kid | 8 years ago | Reply I must say, not having lived in Pakistan for a long time I was not aware of this Axact company, but now reading about it I can say this has all the signs of a fraud company. Start with all the false claims like "The leading IT company in the world", the "largest news channel Bol", educating millions of children and aspiring to be richer than Bill Gates. Wow! How is it that such reputable journalists did not see through him and at least investigate on their own before singing his praises? So embarrassing.

H Chaudhry | 8 years ago | Reply @Pakistani PM is not in question here and its irrelevent here how much he paid or his brother vs. a Businessman running a corporation. However, a simple google search will tell you that last year NS paid close to 2.5 million Rs, Shahbaz around 5 million Rs and since 1990, the Sharif family has paid over 1 Billion Rs in taxes.

Aazad | 8 years ago | Reply Also someone should bother to find the assets of our finance minister and the tax he paid?

Adnan | 8 years ago | Reply Will govt. suspend the office responsible to ignore this matter? how come a salaried person escape from tax deduction

Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply "Axact chief executive paid Rs26 in income tax last year". And how much did our dear Prime Minister and his brother pay?

roadkashehzada | 8 years ago | Reply come ET be responsible. u published list of many shoaib ahmeds with their national ID card numbers. can create problems for the individuals and gives idea of their income. thats breach of personal information for other shoaib ahmeds.

King | 8 years ago | Reply Why dont the govt just shut this company , in past they were accused of dealing in Adult business websites as well . Their employees are not even graduates in sales in dept all they know good english and are street smart , mostly the one's who are needy of money are employed so that they can do any shady business for money NOW SUE ME TO AXACT

Ali S | 8 years ago | Reply And on top of it he has the nerve to say ridiculous things like his goal is to educate 10 million Pakistanis by 2019 - I have learnt that the more pious and generous a Pakistani acts in public, the more reason you have to suspect them. Everything about this company and this guy screams 'con job'. It's about time they're shut down, heavily penalized and made an example of - this "richer than Bill Gates" fraud should have all his assets seized and put behind bars. It's things like these which make it hard for Pakistanis to get good jobs abroad.

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