ISLAMABAD: The federal government published its parliamentarians’ tax directory this week, revealing that many major figures in Pakistani politics paid minimal tax in 2019 and many paid no tax at all, highlighting deep flaws in a taxation system that has drawn repeated criticism from Western aid donors.
Pakistan’s inability to raise revenue has constrained government spending, depriving schools and hospitals of funds and exacerbating energy crises over the years, causing widespread hardship in the nuclear-armed country of 220 million people.
Western allies have poured billions of dollars in aid into Pakistan, but the funds have not been nearly enough to plug the huge gap between members of the elite, who often pay little tax, and the poor who desperately need the public services that taxes should fund.
The Federal Bureau of Revenue, the country’s national tax collection authority, published the Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory 2019 on January 3. The report highlights one of the reasons why Pakistan has failed to improve its tax collection rates: politicians benefit from a lax regime.
“FBR has been publishing Tax Directories of Parliamentarians for the last six tax years,” finance minister Shaukat Tarin said in the foreword to the tax document.
“But this time, in line with the government’s reform agenda, special efforts have been made to render the Directory more informative, with a clearer picture of the state of affairs, which will help not only in educating the taxpayers but also in encouraging compliance with tax laws as a national duty.”
According to the directory, which has been tabulated from returns filed manually and electronically till January 3, opposition politician and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who belongs to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), paid zero income tax and Rs12 million agriculture tax, Senator Khalida Ateeb paid Rs315 income tax, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar Rs2,000, Mahmood Khan Rs66,000, and Khusro Bakhtiyar Rs1.5 lakh tax for the year 2019.
Ninety-three parliamentarians did not file tax returns during 2019 while the computerized identity cards of 63 parliamentarians are missing from their returns.
Among the highest tax payers were Prime Minister Imran Khan, who paid Rs9.8 million, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif Rs8.2m, former president Asif Ali Zardari Rs2.2m and PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Rs5.35m.
Other politicians who paid income tax in the crores, or millions, include Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, who paid Rs26.6 million, PTI MNA Najib Haroon who paid the highest tax of Rs147 million and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUIF) Talha Mahmood who paid Rs32.2 crore as income tax.
Other notable mentions were senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal who paid Rs55 lakh as income tax in 2019, PML-N’s Azam Tarar Rs25.4 lakh, Asad Umar Rs42.7 lakh, Faisal Vawda Rs11.62 lakh, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari Rs3.71 lakh, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Rs48.71 lakh, Khawaja Saad Rafique Rs2.69 lakh, Rana Sanullah paid Rs29.94 lakh, Saeed Ghani Rs7.02 lakh, Shazia Marri Rs39,761 and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani Rs 15.55 lakh.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari declared the highest agricultural income in the National Assembly at Rs136.048m while his son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, declared Rs29.666m as agricultural income.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi paid income tax of Rs851,955, agriculture tax Rs350,000, presumptive tax Rs42 lakh and showed a total income of Rs37 lakh. Minister for Information & Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry paid income tax amounting to Rs136,808.
Minister of State on Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib paid Rs405,477, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan paid income tax of Rs12 lakh and agriculture tax of Rs520,000, Defense Minister Pervez Khattak paid income tax of Rs12.5 lakh, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid paid income tax of Rs557,450 and agriculture tax Rs324,667 and Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz paid income tax of Rs885,451 for 2019.
Huge swathes of the economy, like agriculture, have been virtually exempt from taxes over the years. Specially designated products also benefit from “zero-ratings” and are not subject to any tax, something that the IMF wants Pakistan change if it wants to revive a stalled $6 billion loan package approved in 2019.
New tax directory shows Pakistani parliamentarians pay little, sometimes no, tax
https://arab.news/pzefy
New tax directory shows Pakistani parliamentarians pay little, sometimes no, tax
- Federal Bureau of Revenue published the Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory 2019 on January 3
- Pakistan has failed to improve tax collection rates partly because elites benefit from a lax regime
Pakistan PM calls for quick EV policy with stakeholder input to promote clean transport
- Shehbaz Sharif seeks ‘priority measures’ to promote electric motorcycles, scooters, cars and buses
- He says charging stations and battery-swapping centers must be ensured to strengthen EV rollout
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Saturday pledged to promote electric vehicles (EVs) across all segments of transport, with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif calling for a national policy on the subject to be finalized in consultation with stakeholders.
The move comes amid a steady rise in EV adoption in a market long dominated by Japanese automakers such as Suzuki, Toyota and Honda. Increasingly, Chinese and Korean brands are entering the space, with electric vehicles becoming more and more visible in cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
The government is hoping to ride this momentum to cut fuel imports and reduce emissions.
“Priority measures will be taken for the promotion of electric motorcycles, scooters, three-wheelers, cars and buses,” the prime minister said while chairing a meeting in Lahore to discuss the adoption of EVs.
The draft Electric Vehicles Policy 2025 was reviewed at the meeting, with Sharif calling for its urgent finalization “in consultation with all stakeholders” before being presented to the cabinet.
“Charging stations and battery-swapping stations must be ensured,” he said during the meeting. “Industries will also be facilitated to increase the manufacturing capacity of two- and three-wheelers.”
While EVs offer a way to reduce the country’s petroleum import bill and carbon footprint, the lack of infrastructure, frequent power outages and limited financing options remain key impediments to their widespread adoption and scale-up.
Yet industry experts believe existing players in Pakistan’s auto market will face stiff competition from various EV brands, with many seeing electric vehicles as poised to consolidate their place in the domestic market.
Pakistan delegation in Brussels says Islamabad can develop counterterror partnership with Delhi
- India blames Pakistan for supporting “terrorist” attacks in the part of disputed Kashmir it governs
- Islamabad, Washington thwarted attacks in Pakistan, US and Europe, says head of delegation
ISLAMABAD: The head of a delegation visiting Brussels to present Pakistan’s point of view regarding the country’s recent military standoff with India said on Saturday that Islamabad can develop a “phenomenal” counterterror partnership with Delhi, similar to the one it has with Washington.
India blames Pakistan for arming and funding militants who carry out subversive activities in the part of disputed Kashmir it governs, an allegation Islamabad has always denied. The two countries engaged in a military confrontation for four days last month after India accused Pakistan of supporting an attack at the Pahalgam tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed in the attack.
Pakistan enjoys counterterror cooperation with several countries, including the US, which includes intelligence sharing and other forms of coordination to thwart militant attacks. The head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Kurilla, this week praised Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in counterterrorism efforts during a testimony.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is the head of the Pakistani delegation, pointed out that the US and Pakistan have thwarted “terrorist attacks” in Europe, the US and Pakistan through counter-terror coordination.
“Will we be more effectively able to combat terror if India and Pakistan sat together and coordinated, conducted intelligence sharing,” Bhutto Zardari asked in response to a question.
Citing Kurilla’s statement, Bhutto Zardari said Islamabad can develop a counter-terror partnership with New Delhi similar to the one it enjoyed with Washington.
“We can develop that phenomenal partnership with India as well,” he added.
He lamented that there was no cooperation or coordination between the two nuclear-armed nations on combating “terrorism,” adding that the two countries last had a dialogue on counter-terror in 2012.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the nine-member diplomatic group last month, headed by Bhutto Zardari, who is a former foreign minister and the head of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
He has been leading a team to visits in New York, Washington DC, London and Brussels since June 2. Another delegation, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, has visited Moscow.
While the ceasefire between the two countries continues to remain in place, tensions continue to simmer as India says it is holding in abeyance a decades-old water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.
Islamabad had said after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty that it considered any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan to be an “act of war.”
About 80 percent of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.
Pakistan and India, bitter rivals, have fought two out of three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir that they both claim in full but govern only parts of.
Pakistan says 700 army personnel killed in militant attacks in last 2 years
- Pakistan has suffered a surge in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces recently
- Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif blames New Delhi for supporting militant outfits in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Around 700 army personnel have been killed in various militant attacks over the past two years, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Saturday, accusing India of supporting terror outfits in the country.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November 2022 in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces bordering Iran and Afghanistan. In KP, the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against law enforcers.
In Balochistan, separatist ethnic Baloch militant groups demand independence from the state, accusing Islamabad of denying locals a share in the province’s mineral resources. Islamabad denies the allegations.
“In the past two years, 700 of our soldiers have been martyred,” Asif told lawmakers during a televised parliamentary session. “Our civilians have been martyred. Several districts of a province of ours are being targeted by terrorism.”
The minister said that militant outfits such as the TTP or the separatist Baloch Liberation Army are “agents of India,” alleging that they were fighting New Delhi’s war on Pakistani soil.
“Any person who even has a speck of sympathy toward them is not a Pakistani,” Asif said, vowing that Islamabad would win its war against militancy.
India and Pakistan have traded allegations of supporting militant groups for years. New Delhi blames Islamabad for supporting militant outfits who carry out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, an allegation that Pakistan has always rejected.
The two countries engaged in a military confrontation for days last month after India attacked Pakistan with missiles, accusing it of supporting an April 22 attack in the Pahalgam tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan denied the allegations and called for an international, credible probe into the incident.
The defense minister expressed solidarity with Iran over Israel’s recent attacks against it, vowing to extend support to the neighboring country.
“In this hour of trial, we are with them in every way,” Asif said. “Whatever help they need at the international level, at the United Nations or any other institution or at the Islamic conference, we will defend their interests there.”
Pakistan calls for enhancing aid, educational assistance for Palestinians
- Pakistan’s foreign minister chairs meeting to review status of ongoing assistance for Palestinians
- Palestinian death toll from 20-month Israel-Hamas war has passed 55,000, official figures say
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday stressed the need to enhance humanitarian relief and educational assistance for Palestinians bearing the brunt of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has passed 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said this week. Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90 percent of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.
Pakistan has dispatched several aid consignments for the people of Palestine since last year and also granted scholarships and admissions to hundreds of Palestinian students in Pakistani universities since the war began in 2023.
“Reaffirming Pakistan’s unwavering moral, political, and diplomatic support for the Palestinian cause, the DPM/FM emphasized the need to enhance the provision of humanitarian relief to the Palestinian people as well as to extend educational assistance to the Palestinian students,” the foreign office said.
The statement was issued after Dar chaired a meeting to review the status of the ongoing assistance provided by Pakistan to the people of Palestine.
“The DPM/FM expressed deep concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza & West Bank, resulting from Israel’s blatant violations of human rights,” the statement said.
The war between the two sides began when Hamas fighters killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel and abducted 251 hostages. More than half the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel’s military campaign, one of the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, has transformed large parts of cities into mounds of rubble. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in squalid tent camps and unused schools, and the health system has been gutted, even as it copes with waves of wounded from Israeli strikes.
OIC’s COMSTECH eyes enhanced academic collaboration between Pakistan, Bangladesh
- COMSTECH to organize visit by Bangladeshi delegation of universities to Pakistan from June 16-21
- Visit to explore partnerships in higher education, science and technology, says COMSTECH
ISLAMABAD: The OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) is organizing an upcoming visit by a high-level delegation of Bangladeshi universities to Pakistan next week, the global body said this week, as it aims to enhance academic collaboration between the two countries.
The 10-member delegation will comprise vice-chancellors and senior officials from leading public and private sector universities of Bangladesh, COMSTECH said in a statement on Friday. The delegation is set to visit Pakistan from June 16 to 21.
The visit is being organized at COMSTECH’s invitation and is being facilitated by the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad, it said.
“The primary objective of the visit is to explore and enhance avenues of academic collaboration and institutional partnerships in the fields of higher education, science, and technology,” COMSTECH said in a press release.
“The delegation will participate in a series of high-level meetings, discussions, and interactive sessions with top Pakistani universities in Lahore and Islamabad.”
It said that these Pakistani institutions are members of COMSTECH’s Consortium of Excellence (CCoE), a collaborative network of premier universities dedicated to advancing scientific cooperation and educational excellence among OIC member states.
“This initiative reflects COMSTECH’s continued commitment to fostering inter-university cooperation and strengthening academic ties across the Muslim world, particularly between Bangladesh and Pakistan,” the statement concluded.
Ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh have improved recently. Once one nation, Bangladesh split from Pakistan after a brutal 1971 war with Dhaka drawing closer to Islamabad’s arch-rival New Delhi over the years.
However, long-time Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024 after her government was overthrown by a student-led protest. She fled via helicopter to India, with Dhaka attempting to extradite her.
Relations between India and Bangladesh’s interim government have been frosty since then, allowing Islamabad and Dhaka to rebuild ties slowly.
