ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has on the one hand given Punjab’s former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif a clean chit, but on the other declared him a non-filer of tax returns.
According to an FBR report regarding tax default in 389 election-related cases pending with the Lahore High Court, two individuals through five appeals have challenged the candidature of Mr Shahbaz Sharif. The FBR has reported “no outstanding demand” in three cases, but in two cases described the PML-N leader a non-filer.
The report has been sent to the LHC through the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
According to the FBR, Mr Sharif has two national tax numbers (NTNs). In three cases, his NTN has been mentioned as 2216464 in the regional tax office (RTO) Lahore-I and 3100878 in two other cases in the RTO Lahore-II.
An FBR official told Dawn that no individual could possess two NTNs no matter how many businesses he/she ran. He said the new 11-digit NTN had already been introduced which was linked to the computerised national identity card.
However, a source close to Mr Shahbaz Sharif told Dawn that the former chief minister had only one NTN (3100878). He said the other NTN mentioned against his name in fact belonged to Muhammad Sajjad Haider, his opponent in PP-161.
The report has given details of three appeals pending against PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, but absolved him of any tax default.
It says a penalty of Rs334,363 is due to be levied on PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafiq.
A penalty of Rs15,000 was to be imposed on retired General Pervez Musharraf, but the report does not specify if it was on account of not filing tax returns or wealth statement.
The report also shows a minor penalty against Arif Aziz Sheikh, a former member of the National Assembly from Bahawalpur.
Mr Sheikh, who has completed his five-year term despite having confessed that he was a dual national, belongs to the PPP. He admitted before the ECP that he is an Australian national by birth.
An ECP official told Dawn that a complaint had recently been received that Mr Sheikh had the Australian nationality by the name of Peter Bruce and the commission was contemplating how to deal with his case.
