MM News

ISLAMABAD: The wealth of 1,170 members of Parliament (including those in the provincial assemblies and both the upper and lower houses) increased by 85% over the past five financial years, and that around 25 MPs declared billionaires, while 71 MPs have assets worth over Rs500 million each.

According to a report published online on Friday, all 1,170 members of parliament had assets worth approximately Rs49 billion or around $314 million in 2015, however, by 2019-20, their combined wealth had risen to approximately Rs91 billion or $570 million.

The report claims that its conclusions were based on analyzing the income of parliamentarians, including the salaries they receive and information from other sources that they get, and scrutinizing their tax records submitted to the Federal Board of Revenue, the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The report says that MPs collectively owned wealth and assets worth Rs79.8 billion during tax years 2018-19, increasing by Rs12 billion (15%) to Rs91 billion in 2019-20, noting an average increase of Rs10 million in the wealth of each lawmaker.

It says some 311 MPs (around 27%) either had investments in private firms or ran their own businesses. Their combined with a financial worth was around Rs21 billion or $130 million.

Of these 311 lawmakers, 71 had declared that they had disassociated themselves from their businesses after becoming members of Parliament. But their tax records show that they are paying more taxes today compared to their wealth declared with the ECP.

On average, the report maintains, an MP paid approximately Rs1.4 million or around $7,000 in income taxes in 2018-2019. Collectively, MPs paid around Rs1.6 billion or $11 million in taxes in the 2018-19 tax year.

However, this ratio fell by 60% in the 2019 tax year, when MPs collectively paid just Rs980 million or $6 million in taxes.

This meant that from paying Rs1.4 million in tax per lawmaker on average, the average fell to just Rs0.8 million.