ISLAMABAD: At least 112 provincial lawmakers, including Punjab Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Mazari, paid no tax whatsoever according to the latest tax directory released by the Federal Board of Revenue.
Some of those who paid zero tax carry surnames and titles that connote that they hail from the fabulously rich and powerful traditional elite of Pakistan.
Their lavish lifestyles belie the fact that they have no income to pay even a single penny in tax.
The details were provided in the recently released tax directory for the year ending June 30, 2018, which has been tabulated from returns filed manually and electronically until Sep 14, 2020.
The Balochistan Assembly has 14 such legislators who paid zero tax. They are Noorullah, Noor Muhammad, Gohram Bugti, Saleem Ahmed, Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, Syed Muhammad Fazal Agha, Muhammad Mubeen Khan Khilji, Akhtar Hussain Langove, Muhammad Arif, Asadullah, Bushra Rind, Mastoora and Titus Johnson.
In Balochistan, Younas Aziz Zehri paid Rs17,941,220 as association of persons (AoP) while the highest individual taxpayers were Mir Akbar Askani (Rs11,863,470) and former chief minister Sanaullah Zehri (Rs 8,320,023). The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has twelve members who paid no tax at all. They are Waqar Ahmad Khan, Inayatullah, Humayun, Riaz Khan, Amir Farzand Khan, Kamran Khan Bangash, Samar Haroon Bilour, Sher Azam Khan, Pakhtoon Yar Khan, Rabia Basri, Rehana Ismail, Shagufta Malik and Ms. Shahida.
The Sindh Assembly has 18 lawmakers who paid no tax. They are Ghanwer Ali Khan Isran, Abdul Bari Pitafi, Farukh Ahmed Shah, Sajid Ali Banbhan, Khan Muhammad Dahri, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Nasir Hussain Qureshi, Sayed Ghulam Shah Jilani, Adeel Ahmed, Jamaluddin Siddiqi, Ramzan, Shah Nawaz Jadoon, Saeed Ahmed, Rehana Laghari, Sidra Imran, Tahira Dua Bhutto, Mangla Sharma and Shahana Ashar. Moazzam Ali Khan paid Rs107,000 as AoP.
The Punjab Assembly has 57 legislators, who were too poor to pay any tax. They included Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, Minister Fayyazul Hasan Chohan, Minister Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari, Malik Muhammad Anwar, Malik Jamshaid Altaf, Sardar Aftab Akbar Khan, Raja Yawar Kamal Khan, Muhammad Arshad Chaudhary, Muhammad Tariq Tarar, Muhammad Ahsan Jahangir, Saeed Akbar Khan, Saleem Bibi, Umar Farooq, Shakeel Said, Ashifa Riaz, Muhammad Moavia, Ghazanfar Abbas Shah, Mian Jaleel Ahmed, Muhammad Hashim Dogar, Mian Muhammad Farrukh Mumtaz Maneka, Syed Abbas Ali Shah, Muhammad Faisal Khan Niazi, Syed Ali Haider Gilani, Nawabzada Waseem Khan Badozai, Muhammad Salman, Mian Tariq Abdullah, Qasim Abbas Khan, Khalid Mehmood Dogar, Muhammad Ejaz Hussain, Rai Zahoor Ahmad, Muhammad Ali Raza Khan Khakwani, Zaheer Iqbal, Fawaz Ahmed, Syed Usman Mehmood, Rais Nabeel Ahmad, Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh, Lala Muhammad Tahir Randhawa, Syed Rafaqat Ali Gillani, Khawaja Muhammad Daud Sulaimani, Sardar Usman Ahmed Khan Buzdar, Sardar Muhammad Mohiuddin Khan Khosa, Shawana Bashir, Mussarat Jamshed, Asia Amjad, Seemabia Tahir, Aisha Nawaz, Zainab Umair, Sajida Yousuf, Sabrina Javaid, Sania Ashiq Jabeen, Rabia Nusrat, Rabia Ahmed Butt, Nafisa Amin, Shazia Abid, Mahinder Pall Singh and Peter Gill. Chaudhry Khush Akhtar Subhani paid Rs33. The AoPs include Asif Majeed (Rs8,436,098); Ehsanul Haque Chaudhry (Rs6,920,593); Muneebul Haq (Rs504,834); Chaudhry Muhammad Adnan (Rs14,946); Chaudhry Liaqat Ali (Rs20,384,634); Chaudhry Naveed Ashraf (Rs344,500); Bilal Akbar Khan (Rs1,710,877) and Mumtaz Ahmed (Rs5,552,056).
