188 lawmakers didn’t pay income tax for FY2019: FBR

Prime Minister Imran Khan paid Rs8.95 million in income tax

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has released a list of 188 lawmakers who did not submit their income tax returns during the tax year 2019, while 35 parliamentarians, including former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, declared their taxable income to be zero.

According to documents available with The Express Tribune, Najeeb Haroon topped the list by paying Rs14,749,768 while 20 parliamentarians paid less than Rs1,000 while 76 parliamentarians, including Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar paid income tax ranging from Rs1,000 to Rs2,000, and 44 parliamentarians paid up to Rs10,000.

During the tax year 2019, 1,003 parliamentarians submitted their tax returns. 80 of these were senators, 312 MNAs, 327 from Punjab Assembly, 149 from Sindh Assembly, 91 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly and 44 from Balochistan Assembly.

Out of those who did not pay any tax, 11 were from Punjab Assembly, 10 from NA, eight from Senate, four from KP Assembly while one member each from Sindh Assembly and Balochistan Assembly.

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These include MNAs Abdul Shakoor, Kamaluddin, Mansoor Hayat, Niaz Ahmed Jakhar, Saif-ur-Rehman, Saleem Rehman, Miss Farrukh Khan, Shakila Khalid Chaudhry, Pir Amir Ali Shah Jilani and Sardar. Mohammad Khan Leghari.

Senators who did not pay taxes include Ahmadzai, Rana Maqbool Ahmad, Qaratul Ain Marri and Faisal Rehman.

Punjab Assembly members who did not pay any income tax include Mian Amaldar Abbas Qureshi, Khalid Mehmood Dogar, Mehmood Liaqat, Mohammad Muawiyah, Mohammad Saleem Akhtar, Samiullah Chaudhry, Azmi Zahid Bukhari, Rukhsana Kausar, Raja Saghir, Sania Kamran and Talat Mehmood.

Ayesha Bano, Ikhtiar Wali, Madiha Nisar and Shah Dad Khan from K-P Assembly did not pay any tax, while Khalil George and Jam Shabbir Ali Khan from Balochistan Assembly, and Sindh Assembly, respectively, did not pay any tax either.

Prime Minister Imran Khan paid Rs8,954,959 in taxes during fiscal year 2019, while Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani paid Rs1,399,000, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif paid Rs8,240,000 and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari paid Rs2,218,229 in taxes.

Also read: People squeezed by inflation face more pain from tax hikes

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser paid Rs555,794, Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi Rs932,835, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Rs535,000, Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen Rs266,000,000, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar Rs2,000, K-P Chief Minister Mehmood Khan Rs66,258, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah Rs1,099,758, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudus Bizenjo Rs1,061,777 in the tax year 2019.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi paid Rs4,871,277, Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza Muhammad Afridi Rs40,913, Law Minister Farogh Rs4,285,201. PPP senior leader and former premier Yusuf Raza Gillani did not pay any tax during this period.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed paid Rs75,000, Senator Farooq H Naek Rs4,900,000, Senator Faisal Javed Rs66,000, Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati Rs784,000, Senator Faisal Vawda Rs1,162,000, Senator Talha Mahmood Rs322,000,000, Senator Raza Rabbani Rs1,556,000, Federal Minister Moonis Elahi Rs6,534,000, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak Rs1,257,000, Federal Minister Noorul Haq Qadri Rs62,250, Sheharyar Afridi Rs53,876, Minister of State Farrukh Habib Rs4,05,477, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz Rs885,000, Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri Rs89,479, Senator Zeeshan Rs1,000, Federal Minister Dr Shireen Mazari Rs871,033 Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Rs851,955, Federal Minister Khusro Bakhtiar Rs158,100, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal Rs55,656, Azam Nazir Tarar Rs2,540,126, Senator Ahmad Khan Rs2,388,362, Ali Bukhari Rs38,000 while PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb paid Rs39,761 in taxes.

Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed paid Rs86,606, Federal Minister Hammad Azhar paid Rs18 million, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Noor Alam Khan paid Rs82,311, PML-N's Khawaja Saad Rafique Rs269,414, Federal Minister Sheikh Rasheed Rs557,450 and Federal Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan paid 1,211,661 in taxes.