The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday refused the perception that it would investigate the tax anomalies done by the parliamentarians on its own.
ECP spokesman said that the intention behind the publication of tax returns of the members of parliament was to obtain complaint/objections, if any. If any citizen has any objection, he could approach the court and even file a petition in the EC.
If the tax return of any member of parliament proved wrong, he is liable to five-year imprisonment with fine beside disqualification, ECP spokesman said.
Earlier, a report revealed that out of 1,070 lawmakers voted to the national and provincial assemblies in the 2013 elections, 47 percent did not pay income tax and 12 percent of these members do not have a National Tax Number (NTN).
Non-taxpaying MNAs are in all the major parties. The PML-N has the lion’s share with 54 such MNAs. PTI follows with 19 non-taxpaying MNAs. The PPPP has 13, JUI-F seven and MQM five. The PkMAP and JI have three each. The AAPML, PML, ANP and NP have one each MNA in this category. As many as 15 non-taxpayer MNAs won as independent candidates.
MNAs whose tax declarations were contradicted by the FBR in their nomination papers include big names like Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MQM Parliamentary Leader Dr Farooq Sattar, State Minister for Information & Technology Anusha Rehman, Shafqat Mehmood, Asim Nazir, Nabeel Gabol, Sh. Rohail Asghar, Shazia Marri and Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar.