Report calls half of Pak legislators tax defaulters
25 Dec 2013 5:52 AM IST
Cracking down on rampant tax evasion is a main condition of a $6.7 billion International Monetary Fund programme aimed at stabilising the nuclear-armed US ally of 180 million people.
Big donors such as Britain, which has committed more than $1 billion to Pakistani education, are considering slashing aid unless more rich Pakistanis pay tax.
The report, which identifies some ministers among lawmakers who pay no tax, was drawn up by the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan, an independent research group.
The group based its report on documents from the Election Commission, which publishes financial declarations of political candidates and their statements from the tax authority.
Tariq Azeem, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling party, said the tax authorities and the Election Commission used different forms to gather tax data. He said that may explain the discrepancies.
Asked why some legislators appeared never to have registered with tax authorities, Azeem said: ‘I don’t know.’ Spokesmen for other political parties said they had not read the report and could not comment.
None of the politicians the report identified as tax evaders was available for comment.
Pakistan’s public schools and hospitals are starved of revenue while riots over poor public services are frequent. Militant groups capitalise on anger to build support.
Pakistan has a nine percent tax to gross domestic product ratio, one of the world’s lowest.
Big donors such as Britain, which has committed more than $1 billion to Pakistani education, are considering slashing aid unless more rich Pakistanis pay tax.
The report, which identifies some ministers among lawmakers who pay no tax, was drawn up by the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan, an independent research group.
The group based its report on documents from the Election Commission, which publishes financial declarations of political candidates and their statements from the tax authority.
Tariq Azeem, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling party, said the tax authorities and the Election Commission used different forms to gather tax data. He said that may explain the discrepancies.
Asked why some legislators appeared never to have registered with tax authorities, Azeem said: ‘I don’t know.’ Spokesmen for other political parties said they had not read the report and could not comment.
None of the politicians the report identified as tax evaders was available for comment.
Pakistan’s public schools and hospitals are starved of revenue while riots over poor public services are frequent. Militant groups capitalise on anger to build support.
Pakistan has a nine percent tax to gross domestic product ratio, one of the world’s lowest.
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