Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan paid only a few hundred rupees tax in some years and almost Rs4.7 million in 37 years from 1981 to 2017 — a period during which he was exempted from tax for a couple of years, The News has reported.
According to reports, the highest ever tax paid by PM Imran was in 2010 when he paid Rs1,883,033, while the second-highest income tax amount paid by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was Rs562,554 that he paid in 2011.
Babar Sattar, counsel for Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Monday raised questions and highlighted that for some years his client’s wife has paid even more tax than the premier. He mentioned Khan’s 2017’s annual tax return when he paid Rs103,763 and argued before the Supreme Court (SC) that how could such a person raise a finger at others.
According to an investigation carried out by The News to determine how much tax Imran has paid every year since he was registered as a taxpayer in Pakistan, against the principle set by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a recent reference against the SC judge, the premier himself never declared the bank accounts or the foreign assets held by his children or wives even during the years corresponding to their married life.
The President of Pakistan, on recommendations of the PMO, has sent a reference to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Justice Isa, alleging that he hasn’t declared the assets held by his wife and children in the United Kingdom (UK) and thus he should be sent home.
In his letter to the president, Justice Isa had maintained that his wife and children were not dependent on him, living in UK and he was not under the obligation of declaring any assets held by them. However, the principle set by the PMO, was different.
Keeping in the view the principle set by the PMO, scrutiny of tax record of PM Imran shows that he never declared any foreign bank accounts or assets held by his ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith during the years of their marriage. Not only this, the now premier never declared any foreign bank accounts or foreign assets held by his two sons, who are now in their twenties. Imran did the same in cases of his second wife Reham Khan and third wife Bushra Bibi.
PM Imran married Goldsmith on June 21, 1995. Both separated through a divorce on June 22, 2004. Under the principle defined by the PMO in Justice Isa’s case, the PTI chief was supposed to declare all bank accounts and foreign properties held in Goldsmith’s name in tax years 1994-95 to 2003-04. However, a careful examination of his tax record of the said period revealed that Imran never declared any bank accounts or assets owned by his first wife abroad.
Not only this, Imran has two sons Sulaiman (born 1996) and Kasim (born 1999) and the PTI chief was also supposed to declare any bank accounts held by them or the assets in their names. However, he never declared them in his tax returns.
Imran announced his marriage with Reham Khan on January 6, 2015, and divorced her on October 30, 2015. So he was supposed to declare bank accounts and other assets in Reham’s name, locally or abroad, in his annual tax returns for the tax years 2014-15 and 2015-16, but he hasn’t.
Moreover, he announced his marriage with Bushra Bibi on February 18, 2018. Under the principle defined by his office, he was supposed to declare assets in his third wife’s name in the annual tax returns and Wealth Statement for tax year 2017-18, but only mentioned that as he was recently married, he was not annexing her details.
