A taxing affair: FBR reveals marked increase in taxpaying MPAs

Twenty-six lawmakers contribute only Rs1,000 each

PESHAWAR:

The wealthiest members of the provincial legislature were revealed in the second Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Parliamentarians Tax Directory for the fiscal year which ended in June.

Like their counterparts in the National Assembly, the ratio of income tax paying MPAs in K-P has also increased. However, 26 of them paid a mere Rs1,000 in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2014.



A comparison of FBR directories showed the number of non-taxpaying members fell significantly from 79 to 28 in 2014 of which 20 were men.

Prosperous year

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Malik Noor Saleem once again topped the list as the highest taxpayer. His contribution rose to Rs12.103 million from Rs11.512 million the previous year.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s contribution nearly doubled and he paid Rs660,619.

Opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman’s tax payment went up from nil last year to Rs7,008. PTI’s Shaukat Ali Yousafzai’s tax contribution also increased to Rs24,990 from nothing last year while Special Assistant to Chief Minister for Social Welfare Dr Mehr Taj Roghni paid Rs824,081 compared to Rs704,730 the previous year.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker from Lakki Marwat Zareen Riaz was the second highest taxpayer among women. She paid Rs 10,000 tax and was followed by PTI’s Aisha Naeem and Nadia Sher, who paid Rs7,800 and Rs4,725, respectively.

The opposition’s bill

Other parliamentary leaders of opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Aurganzeb Nalotha, Qaumi Watan Party’s Sikandar Sherpao and Awami National Party’s Sardar Hussain Babak also joined the taxpayers net with Rs1,000 each. However, Sikandar also paid Rs36,000 as a member of an association of persons (AoP).

PML-N MPA Sobia Shahid tax filing significantly dropped as compared to the previous year when she paid Rs156,000. Her latest returns dropped massively to just Rs1,000.

However, the biggest turnaround was for PML-N lawmaker from Manshera, Saleh Mohammad, who paid nothing in taxes last year but this time contributed Rs6 million.

The tax contribution of JUI-F lawmaker from Charsadda, Fazl Shakoor Khan, increased by nearly half as he paid Rs1.3 million compared to Rs780,312 last year.

Still struggling

While some of the MPAs increased their tax contribution, the fiscal year was less ‘prosperous’ for others.

For instance, Minister for Excise and Taxation Mian Jamshiduddin paid nothing in the form of taxes.

Joining him in the non-taxpaying circle was Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Imtiaz Shahid. Last year, Jamshid contributed Rs176,158 and Imtiaz Shahid paid Rs5,403.

Others whose pockets remained as tight as the previous year were Minister for Public Health and Engineering Shah Farman, Minister for Revenue Ali Amin Khan, Minister for Agriculture Akramullah Gandapur and Minister for Irrigation Mehmood Khan. These four again failed to contribute a single paisa in taxes. Meanwhile, Special Assistant for Minority Affairs Soran Singh paid Rs17,037 in taxes.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2015.