IF humility was a characteristic usually associated with our legislators, one would imagine several of them being left red-faced by the latest tax directory of parliamentarians. With a few exceptions, most of them have paid income tax ludicrously out of proportion with their lavish lifestyles. Matters being as they are, however, any embarrassment on their part seems unlikely. Instead, the representatives of the hapless millions who live in this country will probably respond with denials and obfuscation if asked about their niggardly contributions to the national exchequer. The fifth iteration of the tax directory reveals that Prime Minister Imran Khan paid only Rs103,763 as income tax in the fiscal year ending 2017. That is 35pc less than the amount he paid the year before. A few days ago, at a tax award ceremony held to honour the top taxpayers in Pakistan, he declared those who pay the most taxes as the true VIPs of this country. Mr Khan is clearly not aspiring to this status. Meanwhile, former premier Nawaz Sharif’s income tax payment trajectory is no less than fantastical. His tax payments show an astounding drop of 860pc in the year ending 2017 — ie from Rs2.524m the previous year to Rs263,173. However, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s tax payment saw a more than 16pc increase to Rs3.086m in 2017 from the year before.

Palatial mansions, luxury vehicles and foreign jaunts do not come cheap. One particular MNA’s fondness for premium cigars, openly flaunted, probably exceeds what he pays in income tax every year. Moreover, thanks to social media, not to mention the penchant for self-publicity that most of these worthies demonstrate, their excesses are often recorded for posterity. The prime minister at the tax awards ceremony said that with only 1.7m people in a country of 210m filing taxes, the government is compelled to increase the burden of indirect taxes. He rightly described it as “unfair” that the prime minister was paying the same tax on various items as did a daily-wage labourer. However, while it is important to increase the number of income tax filers, it is equally important to ensure that declared, taxable income is commensurate with lifestyle. The prime minister has made accountability the cornerstone of his governance; in the interest of transparency, the resident of the huge Banigala estate — and all the expenses its maintenance must entail — should explain how his yearly income tax worked out to less than Rs10,000 per month.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2019