The economic impact of evading paying unjust taxes

2-12-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

I read from previous fatwas that it is permissible to avoid paying taxes if the tax money is NOT used in proper channel(ie. building hospitals and paving road). But in a country if everyone stops paying taxes, I believe it will definetly will make a negative economic impact on the county, with regards to this scenario, are we obliged to pay taxes? Secondly, is it permissible to do hawala? Is the earning from doin hawala is halal?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

 

If the government collects taxes when it needs to do so in order to spend it on the general benefit of the people, then it is not permissible to refrain from paying it. However, if the taxes are taken unjustly, or that it is spent on non-beneficial fields, then it becomes permissible to avoid paying it. In this case, not paying it is not harming the economy of the country; rather, it is lessening the harms (of unjust taxes) and preserving one’s money; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 84560.

As regards the ruling on Hawaalah, then in principle it is permissible, but if the currencies are different, then for it to be permissible the conditions of exchanging on the spot (without delay) have to be met as we clarified in Fatwa 94389.

In case the Hawaalah is valid, then the money obtained from it is also valid.

Allaah Knows best.

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