Nawaz’s papers should not have been accepted: PTI spokesman

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday questioned acceptance of nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and said despite availability of strong evidence against him, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had accepted his papers.
“The fact is that during the period when he was in exile in Saudi Arabia, Nawaz Sharif paid zero tax. Apart from evidence available with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), this is borne out by Sharif himself through his nomination papers filed in May 2008 for NA-123 Lahore VI,” said PTI Information Secretary Shafqat Mahmood in a statement.
The PTI spokesman said the PML-N leadership had made another effort to conceal facts and also misstated taxes paid by Nawaz Sharif during the period from 2005 to 2007.
“When answering a question relating to taxes paid by the applicant, Nawaz Sharif in his papers had written he paid no tax during the years from 2005 through 2008. This was the period when Sharif had assets in Pakistan that were not shut down and he was receiving income,” he said.
“According to laws of Pakistan, every citizen who has local income, irrespective of where he or she resides, is required to file an income tax return and pay taxes. The fact is that Sharif was in exile, not his assets. Therefore, he had to file a return and pay his share of income tax,” said Mahmood.
The PTI spokesman questioned what business Sharif started all of a sudden that he started paying taxes the same year he arrived to Pakistan,” remarked Mahmood.
“The documents signed by Nawaz Sharif in 2008 indicating that he never paid any taxes while in exile are available with PTI. As soon as Sharif returned, he paid Rs 2 million as tax in 2009/10 and Rs 2.5 million in 2010/11. This tax was paid on income accrued from his shares in Chaudry Sugar Mills. The same mill was also producing dividends in the years he was in exile but no tax was paid,” he asserted.
The PTI leader said tax evasion by the Sharifs was not an issue which has come under scrutiny for the first time as Nawaz Sharif has been convicted in a tax evasion case in 1999 by the Lahore High Court. It was revealed that Sharif had failed to pay federal tax on a civilian helicopter owned by him which was worth $ 1 million at that time, said the PTI leader.