ISLAMABAD - The Senate Friday passed the recommendations on the controversial tax amnesty bill to the National Assembly amid strong opposition even from its coalition partners.The MQM and PML-Q, coalition partners of the government, strongly opposed the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill 2012 while the ANP, another ally of the ruling PPP, stayed away from the business. Awami National Party (ANP) staged a walkout when the house was going to pass the recommendations, saying that the party did not want to become part of this process.The Upper House can only give its recommendations on a money bill as it is the domain of the National assembly to pass or reject such bills. The Lower House has no obligation to consider the recommendations given by the Senate on a money bill.The opposition and MQM remarked that the bill would promote the culture of tax theft and it was a clear discrimination with the honest taxpayers. The 2.9 million non-tax payers pointed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will have to pay onetime tax to whiten their black money, if the proposed bill becomes a law. After paying the purgation money, they will become the part of tax net.MQM senator Nasreen Jalil, chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, said that his party opposed the bill because it encourages tax evasion. Four committee members voted for the bill while two opposed it.Senate Opposition Leader Ishaq Dar said the bill would promote culture of theft and it was unfair for regular tax payers. He said that instead of giving such blanket, 2.9 million tax evaders should be brought directly under the tax net by the FBR. Hasil Bazenjo of the National Party Balochistan opined that the matter should be deferred to the next assemblies while Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the MQM said that thieves and landlords were being protected under the proposed legislation. Rafique Rajwana of the PML-N termed the bill as financial NRO, fearing that the court might strike down the law. He said that the bill was against the fundamental rights of citizens due to its discriminatory nature. Mushahid Hussain Syed said that the legislature should not continue with the law.However, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafiz Sheikh told the house that the impression was wrong that the proposed legislation was meant to cover the tax thieves or rich. "Its purpose is to take on the non-tax payers and the government would get Rs1.8 billion through this legislation," he said. He went on to add that after the legislation the beneficiaries of the scheme would remain in the tax net for life time. "We are producing life time tax payers and we want to bring 2.9 million richest people under the tax net who live in posh areas having multiple bank accounts but do not pay tax," the minister said. He said that the National Assembly would thoroughly deliberate upon the bill and honour the recommendations of the Senate. Elaborating his government's policies on tax system, he said that tax collection had increased and last year it yielded additional Rs3.5 billion to the national exchequer. "We expanded the sales tax base and abolished duties on 392 items among a list of 397 items, 17 tax slabs were decreased to seven while taxable amount of income was increased up to 0.4 million," he told the house.Tahir Mashhadi and Hasil Khan Bazenjo appreciated Malala Yousafzai for being chosen as the Herald's Person of the Year for 2012. Mushhadi said she was the second Pakistani after Benazir Bhutto who won this prize, beating Hilary Clinton and Sonia Ghandi. Bazenjo said that the House should appreciate Malala for winning the international award.Kalsoom Perveen staged a token walkout for not getting a meeting time from the Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for his party BNP-Awami.Interior Minister Rehman Malik, responding to a point order of Senator Idrees Safi about CDA vacation orders to slum area dwellers of Sector I-11 in Islamabad, said that 90 percent Afghans were living in this area without valid visas. He said these people were allegedly involved in criminal activities including suicide bombings. On cellular service suspension, he said that all IED (improvised explosive devices) bombings in Karachi and Quetta were done by mobile phones. "Due to suspension of services on Thursday, no IED blast occurred," he said, adding that mobile phones had become a source of bombing and communication network of terrorists.