FBR unmasks 5,000 non-registered election candidates

Islamabad: More than 5,000 candidates vying for the upcoming general election 2024 have not been registered with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

According to sources, the FBR has been scrutinizing the nomination papers of 28,626 candidates who are vying for the National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. The FBR has found that 5,000 of them do not have a national tax number (NTN), which is mandatory for filing income tax returns.

The sources said that the FBR has checked the candidates’ tax status for the last three years, as per the ECP’s direction. The FBR has also identified hundreds of candidates who have NTN but did not file their tax returns.

The sources said that the FBR has decided to issue notices to the unregistered candidates and ask them to register with the tax department. The FBR will also pursue the non-filers and urge them to file their tax returns.

The ECP has set a deadline of December 31, 2023 for the completion of the scrutiny process of the nomination papers.

The ECP has sought the assistance of four agencies, namely the National Accountability Bureau, the State Bank of Pakistan, the National Database and Registration Authority and the FBR to verify the credentials of the candidates.

ECP to verify candidates’ nomination papers from four agencies

The ECP has said that it will publish the final list of candidates on January 8, 2024. The General Election 2024 is scheduled to be held on February 8, 2024, to elect the members of the 16th National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.

The main parties in the election fray are the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led by Gohar Ali Khan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz led by Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan People’s Party led by former president Asif Ali Zardari.