Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday launched Tax Directories of Parliamentarians and general taxpayers here at Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
According to the directory of Parliamentarians, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif paid Rs2.195 million income tax while Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Khursheed Shah paid only Rs0.13 million tax.
The directory revealed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan paid only Rs76, 000 worth income tax.
According to the document, topping the list was Senator Taj Afridi who paid Rs41.7 million income tax while Aitzaz Ahsan paid RsRs25 million worth tax.
Speaking on the occasion Ishaq Dar said that the Federal cabinet approved the publication of Tax Directories of Parliamentarians and general taxpayers and the FBR has published and also uploaded the tax directories on its website.
He added that Pakistan was the fourth country in the world which had been issuing tax directories of the parliamentarians and general taxpayers and publishing for the last two years.
He, on the occasion, congratulated the chairman FBR Nisar Muhammad Khan and his team for accomplishing the task.
The minister on the occasion warned the non-tax payers to register themselves with the FBR and get National Tax Number (NTN) otherwise the government would tighten the noose around their necks.The Finance Minister said that anyone can easily see his or her tax paid on the website of the FBR.
Highlighting the achievements of PML-N government in the field of tax collection he said in the financial year 2013 there were only 721, 000 accesses which increased to 8, 56, 000 in the year 2014 and further increased to 1.74 million in 2015 showing an increase of 350, 000 or 49 percent raise in tax payers number.
He said that a few years back growth in revenue was only 3.3 percent.
Ishaq Dar said that in the year 2014 the total tax collection was Rs.1940 billion which has now increased to Rs.3112 billion in the financial year 2015-16 without any downward revision showing a growth of 60 percent in FBR revenue collections.
“This is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan and a remarkable achievement”, he remarked.
He added that a few years back the tax to GDP ratio was 8.6 percent and due to which was increased to 9.7 percent.
“Today Pakistan’s tax to GDP ratio has reached to 12.5 percent and would be increased to 15 percent”, he vowed.
He told the media that PML-N government has fulfilled yet another promise of enhancing the revenues of the country.
Ishaq Dar said that government also rolled back the culture of SROs privileges and exemptions in taxes and steps were taken to enhance the revenues of the country by bringing tax evaders into the tax net.
The Finance Minister also informed the media that during last three years 300000 or 0.3 million notices were sent to non-tax payers.
He added, “If we want to lead the country towards prosperity we should focus on enhancing the revenues for the prosperity of the country.”
Ishaq Dar said that after achieving the macroeconomic stability the government was focusing on enhancing economic growth for the socio-economic prosperity.
