The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) released its 2019 tax directory for parliamentarians on Monday, which shows PTI MNA from Karachi Muhammad Najeeb Haroon paid a whopping Rs140 million, while PPP’s Yusuf Raza Gilani and PML-N’s Azma Zahid Bokhari did not pay anything in taxes.
The directory was tabulated from tax returns filed manually and electronically till January 3.
According to the document, Prime Minister Imran Khan paid Rs9.8 million tax.
“This data only includes income and tax declared in returns filed to FBR and does not include agricultural income tax paid to provinces, sales tax, federal excise duty, etc.” the document states.
In the foreword, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said the FBR had been publishing the directory for the last six years. He said special efforts were made this time to make the directory more informative and this “will help not only in educating taxpayers but also in encouraging compliance with tax laws as a national duty”.
Tarin said, “The directory embodies the government’s policy of better governance, accountability and transparency through public access to information.”
According to the data, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif paid Rs8.2 million while PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari paid Rs0.53 million.
PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari paid Rs2.2 million. Senior banker and incumbent finance minister Shaukat Tarin paid Rs26.6 million while former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi paid Rs4.9 million.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s tax amounted to Rs1.1 million. In contrast, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar paid a measly Rs2,000.
Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo paid Rs1.1 million and his predecessor Jam Kamal Khan paid Rs11.8 million. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan paid Rs66,258.
Among the members of the federal cabinet, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi paid Rs0.9 million while Planning and Development Minister Asad Umer paid Rs4.3 million. Energy Minister Hammad Azhar paid Rs29,025 in an individual capacity while his associations of persons (AOPs) tax amounted to Rs18.1 million.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Senator Faisal Subzwari, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas and Punjab Prisons Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan were among several lawmakers who paid Rs2,000 each in taxes.
