PM, his cabinet paid Rs84m in taxes in 2018

Dr Farogh Naseen emerges as highest taxpayer, Hammad Azhar paid lowest amount as tax

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan and 27 members of the incumbent federal cabinet collectively paid a total tax of Rs84 million in the financial year 2018, said the Parliamentarians Tax Directory (2018) that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) released on Friday.

According to the directory, Prime Minister Imran Khan paid a total tax of Rs282,449 in 2018.

However, several members of the cabinet, including Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, Minister for States and Frontier Regions Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan and Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Noor-ul-Haq Qadri did not pay any income tax in that year.

Individually, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar paid Rs22,445 in taxes, which turned out to be the lowest among all the cabinet members. The second lowest income taxpayer among the cabinet members is the Federal Minister for Privatization Muhammad Mian Soomro, who paid Rs38,022.

Federal Minister for Law Dr Farogh Naseem emerged as the highest taxpayer in the cabinet as he paid Rs35,135,459 in 2018. Dr Naseem is followed by the Federal Minister For Power Omar Ayub, who paid a total Rs26,055,517 as taxes in the financial year before the PTI government came into power.

Federal Minister for Science Fawad Chaudhry, whose tweets on political, religious, legal and social issues often stir debates, paid a total Rs1,698,651 income tax in 2018.

Founder of the Awami Muslim League (AML) Rashid Ahmed, who is the current federal minister for railways, paid Rs579,011 while the five-time elected MNA from Badin, Dr Fehmida Mirza, who holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, paid a total income tax of Rs187,052.

PML-Q’s Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema, who holds the portfolio of Housing and Works paid Rs314,840 while Minister for Information Technology Aminul Haq who belongs to MQM paid Rs66,749.

As per the FBR directory, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan paid Rs1,046,669, Minister for Communications Murad Saeed paid Rs374,728 while Defence Minister Pervez Khattak paid Rs1,826,899.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi paid Rs183,900, Minister of Economic Affairs Khusro Bukhtiar paid Rs624,292 whereas the Minister for Federal Education Shafqat Mahmood paid Rs231,730.

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari deposited Rs2,435,650, Minister of Information Shibli Faraz paid Rs367,460 while Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah paid Rs58,120 in 2018.

Minister for Planning Asad Umar paid Rs5,346,342 while the Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Khan Swati gave Rs590,916 as taxes two years ago. Federal Minister for National Food Security Fakhar Imam deposited Rs5,212,137 while the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi paid Rs896,191.

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, who recently announced that the government has decided to elevate Gilgit-Baltistan to the status of a full-fledged province with all constitutional rights, paid Rs378,763 as taxes in 2018.

The name of the Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal is not present in the FBR directory.

The report does not track how much taxes were paid by parliamentarians as the members of the associations of persons (AOPs), as the AOPs pay taxes as separate entities. It only details how much income tax was paid by the individual in the tax year 2018.