How much tax did Pakistani lawmakers pay last year?

By

Shaikh Muhammad Ali

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

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If income tax returns are the gauge of assessing the wealth, income and expenditure of public
figures in Pakistan, then Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi, a Karachi based business tycoon from
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is the richest parliamentarian in the country and MNA
Chaudhary Muhammad Ashraf of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N); the poorest.
The tax directory of the parliamentarians released by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar last Friday i.e. 9th
September 2016 for the fiscal year 2015-16 gives some insight into their wealth, based on the tax
paid by the rich and the not so rich members of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Senate
of Pakistan but the lifestyle and daily expenditures of many of them are in stark contrast to what
the income tax declarations indicate.
The countrys industrialist Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the leader of PML-N
who owns a palace in Raiwind; paid a laughable Rs. 2.195 million and his brother and Punjab Chief
Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif paid Rs. 7.609 million.

(The palace of PM Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind)

In 2012, the approximate worth of Mian Nawaz Sharifs total assets was Rs. 261.6 million, while
the total worth of Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharifs assets was Rs. 336.9 million. The Raiwind
Palace (as it is called), spread over thousands of acres, has some ghost ownership. According to
the statement of assets and liabilities of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his family, no
record of this Raiwind Palace is found
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan who lives in a palatial farmhouse in Bani Gala;
Islamabad, paid a mere Rs. 76,244 tax during the year whereas Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief
Maulana Fazlur Rehman (Maulana Diesel) also paid a paltry sum of Rs. 49,902.

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

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(Imran Khan's House in Bani Gala spread on an area of 400 kanal on a hill)
Pakistan is one of the only four countries in the world which issues the tax details of its
parliamentarians, joining the ranks of Norway, Sweden and Finland1. Of the 303 members of the
National Assembly, the lowest income tax paid was Rs. 1,854 by MNA Chaudhary Muhammad
Ashraf (PML-N) and the highest Rs. 37.607 million by Jahangir Khan Tareen of the PTI. The speaker
of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (PML-N) paid Rs. 1.373 million. Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed
of Awami Muslim League (AML) paid Rs. 312,383 while Ahsan Iqbal of PML-N paid Rs. 106,897. The
leader of the opposition Syed Khurshid Shah of PPP paid Rs. 113,740 and the current leader of the
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Dr. Muhammad Farooq Sattar paid Rs. 67,639.
According to the directory, senators paid more income tax than the Members of the National
Assembly (MNAs). Out of the 90 senators on the list, Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi, an
independent candidate from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) paid the highest
income tax of Rs. 41.712 million while Mushahid ullah Khan of the ruling PML-N paid the lowest,
Rs. 3,611. The senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani (PPP) paid a lowly sum of Rs. 730,107.
After going through the above information, it is evident that Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi from
FATA and MNA Jahangir Khan Tareen of the PTI are the most honest parliamentarians since they
pay their taxes to the state religiously.
Shaikh Muhammed Ali
The Wandering Dervish
E-mail: dushkashaikh@gmail.com
Cell: +00-92-321-5072996
Monday 9th Zilhaj, 1437 H
12th September 2016, 10:41 a.m. (PST)
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http://www.right2info.org/recent/pakistan-becomes-fourth-country-to-make-tax-records-public

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

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