Re: Tax Free Living in Pakistan
This one is a bit unfair on NS.
His source of income is the profit from the companies he is shareholder of and that profit is already taxed and payments of dividends to shareholders also have tax already deducted. I have seen financials of most of the companies he is a director/major shareholder of and they have been paying substantial amount of taxes. Not saying that they would not be evading taxes in one way or another, but claiming that he didn’t pay a rupee of tax is not factual.
It is same as most salaried people not paying taxes in cash to the government because tax is already deducted from their monthly salaries. For some of the other leaders who own agricultural lands, their income is not taxable under Pakistani law and they can easily get away claiming all their income is from the agricultural sources.
The situation is worst for people owning private businesses (trading companies, shopping plazas, bhatta association, etc. ). These guys are the majority in Pakistan who evade taxes. The do not need proper documentation and audits (as incorporated businesses would) and therefore get away with handing a lafafa to the tax officials. These are the exact people who later demand uninterrupted supply of electricity and security from the government.
I don’t know how tax filing is performed in Pakistan but even if tax is deducted by the companies from his salary where he is on the board of directors it should have been reported as tax paid by him and not the ‘corporate tax’. I am sure he is enjoying good salary/benefits from those companies.