Unpaid Taxes: E&T Dept to issue lists of defaulters

LAHORE:

The Excise and Taxation Department directors have been told by the secretary, Zahid Saeed, to prepare and release lists of politicians who are defaulters, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday.

According to the channel, former Punjab Assembly speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal owes Rs108,000 in property tax and former minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor Rs15,000 for a property he owns in PIA Society.

The MQM Lahore office has to pay Rs134,000 in property tax and the PTI Office Rs91,372. The family of Saiful Malook, a former PML-N MPA, owes more than Rs200,000.

Others who are yet to clear their property taxes include former MPAs Haji Imdad, who has to pay Rs50,000; Sheikh Alauddin, who owes Rs33,000; Ijaz Ahmed, who has to pay Rs34,000 and Hafiz Nauman, who has an outstanding property tax equal to Rs10,932.

A E&T spokesman said politicians were being asked to pay their taxes so they could get a clearance certificate.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2013.