Ex-PM Raja paid only Rs 107,247 in tax in 2012
12 April, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Contrary to the lavish and luxurious lifestyle of Pakistan People's Party's (PPP) stalwarts, their tax returns submitted with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) show that they are in a poor state.
The members of the former ruling party are living an ordinary life, if one believes their income declarations and taxes paid, in stand contrast to their high standards of living that cannot be maintained with such low income. If the figures of their income are real then it would be hard for these top guns of the PPP to run their election campaigns because with such meagre incomes they can either run their election campaigns, an expensive venture in Pakistan, or provide bread and butter to their families and dependents.
The tax returns of the PPP's heavyweights submitted to the ECP by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) show that some did not even bother to declare their annual income, claming they were poor and had nothing to declare. Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf's tax returns are surprising, as he earned only Rs 1.9 million in 2012 and paid only Rs 107,247 in tax – figures that seem incompatible with his living style.
Former minister of Capital Administration & Development (CAD) and top leader of the party, Nazar Muhammad Gondal is the "poorest person" when one goes through his declaration, according to which he did not earn a single penny in 2012, thus having no obligation to pay tax. Former federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and PPP Southern Punjab president is also living in "abject poverty" because of having earned nothing in 2012, reflected by his income and tax returns submitted with the ECP. Shahabuddin is a landlord of Rahim Yar Khan and has huge landholding in the district.
Former National Assembly deputy speaker Faisal Karim Kundi is also a poor person according to his declaration of income. In the income column in the summary of the FBR he did not show earning of a single penny in 2012. Former state minister for information in the PPP government Syed Samsam Ali Bokhari is next in line, and he also did not earn a single penny in 2012, the summary of income and tax returns disclosed.
Former federal minister and PPP Central Punjab President Mian Manzoor Wattoo paid just Rs 93, 694 in tax during 2012, with a declared income of just Rs 2.5 million. Noor Alam Khan of the PPP, the richest parliamentarian in the former assembly, paid a meagre amount of Rs 80,284 against earning of Rs 942,612 million during the year 2012.
Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, another stalwart of the party, did not possess much in 2012, and paid just Rs 97,190 in tax against almost Rs 5 million income during the year. Former federal minister in the PPP government Syed Naveed Qamar also paid a meagre sum of Rs 94,170 in tax during 2012 against total income of Rs 4 million despite being a big landlord of Sindh.
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