Not all parliamentarians who debate and vote on imposing taxes on citizens file their own income tax returns as required under the Income Tax Ordinance.

At least nine sitting or recently disqualified Members of the National Assembly (MNA) appear as “In-Active” in the Active Taxpayers List (ATL) available on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) website www.fbr.gov.pk. Moreover, at least two of these nine are not even registered with the FBR, indicating that they may have never filed their income returns.

FAFEN checked MNAs’ return-filing status on the FBR website using their National Identity Card (NIC) numbers that they had provided on their nomination papers last year for General Elections 2024.

How does FBR categorize taxpayers?

FBR website classifies registered taxpayers as either “Active” or “In-Active”. When a taxpayer files an income tax return within the due date announced by the FBR, their name is entered in to the ATL, which is an official database published annually in March, and updated weekly on every Monday.

In case of filing returns after the deadline, taxpayers have to pay a surcharge for changing their status to “Active”. An “In-Active” status on the FBR website means the person has not yet filed an income tax return for the previous tax year. If a citizen is not registered with the FBR, the website shows the status “No record exists”.

What are the consequences for not filing returns?

Filing an income return is not optional. It’s a legal obligation under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, and non-compliance can result in serious financial or legal repercussions.

Non-filers face higher withholding tax rates on bank transactions, vehicle registration, and property purchases while they cannot claim those taxes back. If a person fails to file an income return despite FBR’s notices, it may even lead to penalties or imprisonment of up to a year.

Does non-filing mean not paying taxes?

Not necessarily. For salaried individuals, income tax is withheld at source by their employers and deposited with the FBR. When these individuals file their returns, the withheld amount is treated as their income tax. Similarly, tax on the sale of professional services is also deducted at source. Therefore, it is quite possible that the full or partial tax liability of these MNAs has already been withheld at source and paid to the FBR.

How are the MNAs doing?

Of the total membership of the National Assembly, 301 sitting or recently disqualified MNAs have an “Active” status as their names appear in the latest ATL. Among nine missing MNAs, four belong to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), two each to Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam Pakistan (JUIP), and one to Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP). The status of remaining 26 MNAs, mostly reserved-seat women, is unknown as their nomination papers and NIC numbers were not available.

FAFEN checked the MNAs’ filing status using the ATL (Income Tax) downloaded from the FBR website during the last week of September 2025, and cross-checked these statuses on the FBR Online Verification System on October 21, 2025.

How can you check if your MNA is a filer?

Citizens can verify their MNA’s status directly on the FBR website using the National Identity Card numbers available on nomination papers or, in the case of second-term MNAs, from previous tax directories of parliamentarians. – Written by Azhar Ali, FAFEN staff member.