Never
declared the
flat in wealth statements for 17 years;
declared his income at Rs97,334 for the year 1983-84 but purchased
London flat for GBP110,000 (Rs2,438,000) in 1983; PTI spokesman says party has decided **t to cooperate with Jang/News Group any more; Imran’s tax lawyer says declaring foreign assets wasn’t mandatory
ISLAMABAD: Contrary to his claim that though he didn’t declare his offshore company but
declared the
London flat owned by it, the PTI chief
Imran Khan in fact never
declared his
flat from 1983 (the year of purchase) to 2000 in his wealth statements and only
declared it
under General Musharraf’s ‘Whitening of
black money Scheme’ (Tax Amnesty
scheme 2000) in the financial year 2001.
While declaring his
flat in income tax returns for the financial year 2001,
Imran Khan, who has always been a vocal opponent of
whitening of
black money schemes, formally admitted in his wealth statement that he was declaring his
London flat under the Tax Amnesty
scheme 2000 (TAS 2000). Imran, who started his international cricket career in 1971, started filing income tax returns in 1982 and started filing wealth statements along with his tax returns from the year 1989. In all his wealth statements from 1989 to 2000,
Imran Khan
declared all his assets including his houses, plots and agricultural lands but never
declared his
London flat, which he had purchased in 1983.
Imran Khan has never
declared his offshore company Niazi Services Limited of Jersey, Channel Islands, in any of his returns of wealth statements though he mentioned his shares and investments in other local companies.
According to tax experts, by **t declaring his
London flat for 17 years (1983 to 2000) and only declaring it by taking advantage of tax amnesty scheme, the PTI chief had in fact formally admitted that he was hiding his
London asset and offshore company.
Imran Khan
declared his income at Rs36,634 for the year 1981-82, Rs35,104 for the year 1982-83 and Rs97,334 for the year 1983-84 but he managed to purchase
flat 2, 165 Draycott Avenue, South Kensington,
London for GBP 110,000. The British Pound exchange to Pak Rupee exchange rate at that time was Rs22.17 which means he paid Rs2,438,000. However, while taking advantage of
whitening of
black money scheme,
Imran declared cost of his
flat at Rs2,000,000. He was to pay 11 to 14 percent tax on cost of
flat to make it legal depending in which month August, September, October or **vember of year 2000 he was declaring it.
On being contacted by The News, Naeemul Haq, spokesman for the PTI chairman, responded, “Sorry, we have decided **t to cooperate with Jang/News Group anymore.” This correspondent tried till late night to contact any senior PTI leader to take his view. A PTI leader on the condition of **t being named told this correspondent that it was wrong to say that
Imran availed
whitening of
black money scheme. And even if it is correct, it was his right to avail such a scheme.
When The News contacted Yusaf Ali Chaudhry, tax lawyer of the PTI chief, who issued a statement about tax history of
Imran Khan four days back and volunteered to respond to any queries, responded, “It is true that the PTI chief
Imran Khan
declared his
London flat for the first time in 2001 as submitting assets statements was **t a requirement before that”. When asked, if the PTI chief was submitting his wealth statements since 1989 and was declaring all his assets in Pakistan except his
London flat, Yousaf argued that declaring foreign assets or companies was **t mandatory and this is why Sharif family hasn’t
declared any of their foreign assets or businesses in Pakistan.
The political leaders in the developed democracies have to pass through strict scrutiny and any such concealment in assets can destroy their career. On surfacing of any such irregularity regarding any political leader, people in Western democracies believe that the one who is **t clear and transparent in his own personal financial affairs could never run affairs of the state honestly.
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