At least 26 parliamentarians, including 7 Senators and one Member National Assembly, failed to pay any tax for the year that ended on June 30, 2015, according to the Parliamentarians Tax Directory released by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) here Friday. However, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Friday said that 120 parliamentarians including Member National Assembly, Senate and provincial Assemblies have not filed their income tax returns for the tax year 2015.
The Senators showing ''0'' tax payment include Gul Bashra of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Kalsoom Perveen of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Mir Naimatullah Zehri of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Samina Abid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Sittara Ayaz of Awami National Party (ANP) and Nighat Mirza of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The member National Assembly who paid ''0'' tax during the period include; Makhdoomzada Syed Basit Ahmad Sultan Bukhari of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N). At least 12 members of the Punjab Provincial Assembly - Malik Muhammad Zahoor Anwar, Rai Muhamamd Usman Khan Kharal, Mian Tahir, Chaudhary Muhammad Ashraf Warriach, Nighat Intasar Bhatti, Ali Asghar Manda, Ghulam Murtaza Raheem, Muhammad Imran, Ahmad Karim Qaswar Langrial, Mrs Naseem Lodhi, Mrs Haseena Begum, Mrs Saadia Sohail Rana - paid ''0'' tax during the said period.
According to the directory, 3 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, whose data reflected ''0'' tax payment, are Arbab Jehandad Khan, Sikandar Hayat Khan and Ubaid Ullah Mayar. About 3 members of Sindh Provincial Assembly paid ''nil'' tax during the year ended June 2015, they are Abdul Sattar Rajper, Sikandar Ali Shoro, and Owais Muzaffar. According to the Parliamentarians Tax Directory all the 64 provincial members of Balochistan Assembly paid tax during the period under review.