At least 39 lawmakers, including 10 members of the National Assembly and eight Senators did not pay income tax for the year that ended June 30th, 2019, revealed Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory released by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Monday.

According to the tax directory, the senators showing zero income tax payment include, (1) Hidayatullah Khan, (2) Naseema Ehsan, (3) Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan, (4) Quratulain Marri, (5) Faisal Saleem Rahman, (6) Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai, (7) Rana Maqbool Ahmad, and (8) Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani.

The members National Assembly who paid zero tax during the period include; (1) Abdul Shakoor (NA-51); (2) Kamal Uddin (NA-262); (3) Mansoor Hayat Khan (NA-63); (4) Saleem Rehman (NA-3); (5) Farrukh Khan (Punjab-33); (6) Shakila Khalid Chaudhry (Punjab-34); (7) Niaz Ahmed Jakhar (NA-188); (8) Saif Ur Rehman (NA-242); (9) Pir Ameer Ali Shah Jeelani (NA-221), and (10) Sardar Muhammad Khan Leghari (NA-192).

Khalil George (NM-63) member of Balochistan provincial assembly paid zero income tax during the period. Three members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly including, (1) Aisha Banno (WR-10); (2) Madiha Nisar (WR-16); (3) Shah Dad Khan (PK-81), and (4) Ikhtiar Wali (PK-63) paid zero income tax during the year ended June 30, 2019.

According to the tax directory, at least nine members of the Punjab provincial assembly paid zero tax during the period including, (1) Mian Alamdar Abbas Qureshi (PP-277); (2) Mahmoodul Haq (PP-141); (3) Muhammad Saleem Akhtar (PP-212); (4) Samiullah Chaudhry (PP-246); (5) Azma Zahid Bokhari (W-333); (5) Rukhsana Kausar (W-347); (6) Raja Sagheer Ahmed (PP-7); (7) Sania Kamran (W-316); (8) Talat Mehmood; (9) Malik Wasif Mazhar (PP-218); (10) Khalid Mehmood Dogar (PP-230); (11) Muhammad Moavia (PP-126); and (12) Mumtaz Ahmed (PP-105).

The only member of Sindh Assembly Jam Shabbir Ali Khan (PS-43) paid zero income tax during the period under review.

Three parliamentarians including, (1) R Mumtaz Ahmed (PP-105), (2) Hamid Rashid (PP-117), and (3) Senator Saifullah Abro from Sindh paid zero income tax during the period under review, however, share of tax paid by AoPs of which the taxpayers were listed as members.

The income of Senator Saifullah Abro has been shown Rs212,764,112, whereas, Rs60,750,092 was share of tax paid by AoP.

93 MPs among non-filers

As many as 93 parliamentarians have not filed their income tax returns for the Tax Year 2019. According to the analysis of the Tax Directory (Tax Year 2019), apparently, 93 parliamentarians are non-filers and have not filed their income tax returns for the Tax Year 2019.

Sources said that the computerised national identity card numbers (CNICs) of 63 Parliamentarians were not visible to the FBR during the finalisation of the tax directory. The Board had contacted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Assemblies seeking CNICs of these Parliamentarians.

The analysis of the tax directory (Tax Year 2019) further revealed that the average income tax paid by the parliamentarian comes to around Rs789,493. Sources, referring to the tax directory, informed that a total of 1,169 Parliamentarians from the National and Provincial Assemblies and Senators filed their income tax returns.

Out of total filers, 59 parliamentarians belong to the Balochistan assembly; 110 parliamentarians from the KP Assembly, 354 parliamentarians from the Punjab Assembly, and 157 parliamentarians belong to the Sindh Assembly. A total of 83 senators and three parliamentarians from the Islamabad Capital Territory filed their income tax returns for the tax year 2019.

Meanwhile, chairman FBR/secretary Revenue Division in his welcome address at the launch of the tax directory, highlighted the new additions and salient features of Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory for Tax Year-2019. He clarified that the incumbent government had decided to continue this initiative and publish Tax Directory for Tax Year 2019, after making certain important improvements.

“In the previous format, only the amount tax paid by parliamentarians was reflected which caused a lot of confusion.” Therefore, learning from the past experience and with the prior approval of the government, additional columns have been added to show the income under different categories i.e. normal, presumptive, and agriculture.

Likewise, last year total tax payment by an AOP was shown in which the honorable Parliamentarian was a member, this too created confusion. This year, on advice of the Cabinet, share of the parliamentarians’ tax paid by an AOP has also been shown, he continued. At the end, the chairman FBR further explained that the FBR had tried its best to minimise mistakes.

However, in case of any human or technological error, the parliamentarians could approach the FBR for updating their tax record. He also stated that the Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory for Tax Year 2020 would also be published in due course.

These stories were first published in Business Recorder on Jan 4, 2022.