Question:
asalam alaikum,
Is it haraam not to pay taxes in Trinidad? Also, is it haraam to hide income earned in order to pay lower taxes?
Answer:
Wa Alaikum as Salaam,
In Islam, paying taxes is not haraam. It is a means and way of providing many facilities and services to the citizens of a country. Hence, it will not be proper to evade taxes entirely, although it cannot be said that it is haram to do so.
With respect to the other question, it is seen that the amount of taxes charged, can be unjust at times. Due to this, one is affected by getting a lower take-home salary which affects one in fulfilling the basic monthly/weekly needs and necessities.
Taking this into consideration, in my humble opinion, it will not be haraam to refrain from disclosing one’s entire income in order to pay lower taxes.
And Allah knows best,
Mufti Waseem Khan
2/1/2013