Rashid claims PTI chief defaulted on agriculture tax, possesses ‘black money’
Says PTI chief should clarify ‘foreign services’ that he has cited as an income source in tax returns
Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid on Friday accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan of tax evasion, alleging that the cricketer-turned-politician possessed “black money”.
Addressing a press conference, the minister rubbished Khan’s allegations that the ruling Sharif family was a tax defaulter. On the contrary, the minister said, Khan paid a meagre amount of Rs 194,939 as tax in the year 2014 even though the PTI chief “lives like a king and has three palatial abodes”.
“There is a huge difference between the taxes paid by PM Sharif and the PTI chief,” said Rashid.
Rashid also showed journalists a short documentary on “Khan’s luxurious houses at Bani Gala, Zaman Park Lahore and Diplomatic Enclave Islamabad, as well as his agricultural land in Bhakkar and Khanewal”.
SHARIFS’ TAXES:
Responding to allegations levelled by Khan against the taxes paid by the premier, Rashid said the sugar mills owned by Nawaz Sharif paid around Rs 2.5 billion as tax during year 2005 and 2014.
“Sharif also paid around Rs 30 million as income tax and agriculture tax of which agriculture tax was around Rs 6 million,” said Rashid.
He said that the prime minister’s family, including his wife Kalsoom Nawaz and daughter Maryam Nawaz deposited Rs 546,524,500 as taxes whereas during 2014, the PM paid tax amounting to Rs 2,695,912 in addition to Rs 2,042,000 agriculture tax. “The total tax paid by the PM during one year is Rs 4,738,753,” he said.
KHAN’S TAXES:
Rashid said that during the same period, Imran Khan showed agriculture income of Rs 2,350,000 but did not pay any agriculture tax.
He said Khan’s income details also mentioned that he earned Rs 8.44 million through “foreign services”.
“The PTI chief should clarify what services he has been providing to foreign countries when he is against the indulgence of political leaders in international business,” said Rashid.
“Khan made the capital hostage by serving the vested interests of foreign petroleum cartels and thus damaged the premier’s political agenda by causing the postponement of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan,” alleged Rashid.
Documents show that Khan has cash-in-hand worth over Rs 10 million, which is unexplainable, said Rashid.
“Why is Khan holding such a huge amount as cash, why is this amount not in a bank,” he said, adding that this cash is in fact “black money” because “nowadays anything can be purchased using a debit or credit card”.
Advising Khan to be cautious about his pocket and the “people standing to his right”, the minister said the PTI chief should inform the nation when he would pay agriculture tax and why he was keeping such a huge amount of cash in his pocket.
