All 5 recruitment services paid almost zero tax in 3 years, Senate informed

Dar tells Senate so far 5 new NGOs have been registered; says there are 165,800 BISP beneficiaries in 7 FATA agencies

ISLAMABAD: Four out of five testing or recruitment services in the country have not paid their taxes for the last three calendar years, while the remaining one body has paid Rs873 for only a year.

National Testing Service (NTS), Balochistan Testing Service, Pakistan Testing Service and Sindh Testing Service did not pay their taxes for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, while Universal Testing Services paid Rs873 in tax for 2015 only.

Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Ishaq Dar shared these details in the Senate during the question hour on Wednesday. He submitted the written reply to a question asked by Senator Chaudhary Tanvir Khan.



Khan had sought details of year-wise tax received from the five recruitment bodies. At first, in his reply, Dar submitted a convoluted and incomplete answer in the Senate apparently withholding the details sought about tax payments of the said companies on the pretext that under Income Tax Ordinance 2001 such information was confidential and not meant to be disclosed.

“However, under Sub-Section 5 of the ordinance, the federal government may disclose such information,” Dar stated in the reply, while sharing the chart carrying names of five testing services and information about their tax payments during the calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Among the five testing services, NTS is widely known and its system has spread across the country. However, the service has come under severe criticism in and outside parliament. The lawmakers have often called for shutting down the service. In the 2015-16 report, the auditor general of Pakistan pointed out serious irregularities in its functions under COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.



NGOs registration

Similarly, the finance minister also replied to a question asked by Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi about registered and unregistered non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as Economic Affairs Division (EAD) of his ministry deals with the subject.

He replied that so far five NGOs had been registered with the EAD. Social Services Programme and Friends Welfare Association were working in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), while Hyderabad Relief and Rehabilitation Trust in Sindh. The Health and Education Development Society was delivering services in Punjab, K-P, Sindh and Fata, while a Norwegian-sourced NGO called Sahil was working for the rights of children across the country, he informed.

The minister also replied that cases of 44 NGOs have been circulated among all the stakeholders for clearance, while documentation of 34 such bodies was being completed prior to circulation to the stakeholders.

Dar also replied to another question about the number of beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Programme in Fata. He stated that in total there are 165,800 eligible beneficiaries in seven agencies of Fata. Bajaur Agency tops the list with 57,648 beneficiaries, while North Waziristan comes in last with 100 beneficiaries.