Axact chief executive paid Rs26 in income tax last year

Rs26 income tax puts Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh's monthly income at Rs33,377

Following an earth-shattering report on Axact’s global operations published in the New York Times on May 18, Atlantic Media group’s digital publication Quartz on Tuesday took a deeper look at Axact’s chief executive and founder.

Read: Fake diplomas, real cash: Pakistani company Axact reaps millions

The man who wanted to be “richer than Bill Gates” and whose company claims to have a presence in “six continents, 120 countries and 1300 cities”, paid only Rs26 in income tax in 2014, a fact first made public by journalist Ahmed Noorani in mid-April, the report found.

 

FBR SCREENGRAB

 

Based on the lowest individual tax rate in Pakistan, Shaikh’s total declared annual income was just Rs400,520, or Rs33,377 a month.

 

FBR SCREENGRAB

 

Read: FIA takes Axact employees into custody, seizes equipment following Nisar’s orders

The Quartz report found that Axact was only registered in June 2006, according to the records of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and only had paid up capital of Rs6 million, according to SECP’s 2010 records.

Read: Axact threatens to sue Pak Tea House for rounding up Twitter reactions

Last fiscal year, Axact paid a little above Rs1.8 million in corporate tax according to FBR, putting the company’s earnings a little above Rs5.5 million (at a 34% corporate tax rate)