For the tax year 2011, Mehar Bukhari did not file any tax return. On the PRAL database, an employer’s statement is available that declares her income worth Rs 8,339,572 but the income from National Communication (Pvt) Ltd [Dunya TV] worth Rs 10,432,447 is not mentioned at all
Javed Chaudhry, TV anchor for the talk show ‘Kal Tak’ and op-ed columnist for the daily Express, also runs a media consultancy firm, Media Mark. On April 6, last year Media Mark organized a seminar on ‘National Enforcement Dialogue on Tax Evasion and Illicit Trade in Pakistan’. This seminar was sponsored by the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC).
However, Mr. Chaudhry’s own declarations have invoked tax authorities’ investigations. According to these investigations, Javed Chaudhry (CNIC 611014262788-9, National Tax Number 1707529-7) filed his Income Tax Returns for the tax years 2010 and 2011 but did not file his wealth statements. Wealth statement is obligatory if one’s income exceeds a certain threshold.
Another point under investigation is the taxability of receipts on account of services rendered. Mr. Chaudhry simply clubbed the net income from receipts classified in return as ‘Other Revenues/fee/charges for professional and other services/commission’ with salary income without calculating minimum tax on services receipts separately.
Similarly, Javed Chaudhry has offered for taxation only those receipts that have suffered the incident of taxation. While he has mentioned M/s Television Media Network (Pvt) Roche Pakistan Ltd and Century Publications (Pvt) Ltd as his payers, he has not declared all his sources. For instance, National Police Academy and Civil Services Academy besides host of other institutions invite him for lectures. Similarly, he is on the panel of man universities.
Tax authorities also suspect that expenses claimed against the services rendered by Media Mark.
The case of Mehar Bukhari:
Mehar Bukhari (CNIC 3520114388878, National Tax Number 3308423-8) hosts talk show titled Cross Fire on Dunya TV. Previously, she was working with Samaa TV (Jaag Broadcasting). For the tax year Ms Bokhari did not file any Wealth statement. Her income from Samaa for the tax year 2010 was Rs. 9,500,000. For the tax year 2011, she did not file any tax return. On the PRAL database, an employer’s statement is available that declares her income worth Rs 8,339,572 but the income from National Communication (Pvt) Ltd [Dunya TV] worth Rs 10,432,447 is not mentioned at all.
(Next week we will expose Hamid Mir’s and Sohail Ahmed’s tax evasion)
 |
Adnan Farooq has worked with daily The Nation, Lahore and daily Jang, Lahore. He has also volunteered for Milieudefensie, Amsterdam. Friends of the earth, Europe, on environmental issues. He has been working with ON FILE, an Amsterdam-based publication run by journalists from all around the world. He studied Conflict Resolution at University of Amsterdam. He is the editor. |
