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Tax Evasion Against Unjust Government
Is there any room in Islam to allow a person at any point to cheat to avoid undue taxes or to avoid a unfair law that is no less than government committing open robbery without regard to its citizens.
A simple answer may be “No”, but it requires thinking and reasoning first.
The question arises who is cheating who in the first place and who determines what is fair or unfair?
If your answer would be to try to change the government or the law, then certainly it is not a solution that is practical.
The issue is immediate and a solutions can’t be in an indefinite future.
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5 Replies
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Tax Evasion Against Unjust Government
updated 2 years, 10 months ago
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If a citizen thinks that the government is cheating him then in principle he has the option of going to the court. The decision of judging fairness and settling such matters belongs to the judiciary. Should such decisions be left up to the individuals, it would certainly result in anarchy. If many citizens face the same problem then they have the right to assemble and make peaceful protests against the government.
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Thanks Faisal. I expected this answer as it seems to be the right answer to avoid anarchy. But the solution is not a solution either but a wishful thinking even in a perfect society.
Peaceful demonstrations rarely if ever work. In addition to organize, it requires money and leadership; which almost always comes from rich and powerful opposition to the current establishment.
Courts are expensive, extremely slow, influenced by rich and powerful and finally courts are bound to follow the laws of the country…the laws which are normally created in favor of politicians and other rich and powerful.
On the other hand, we have the Islamic law and Islamic history to judge when a government is overtaxing or exploiting its citizens and money is being kept by rich and powerful for their personal use.
When a person or a group of person, determines that the government is clearly cheating them, then morally it seems clear to cheat the government to protect a person’s due rights and stand up against injustice. In the process if the person is caught and punished, then it is an injustice.
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While a different topic, but hopefully it will help you in seeing this issue from the perspective of religion:
Discussion 64439 • Reply 64450
With that said, I intentionally used the words “in principle” and underlined them in my original response. The reason is that in certain situations the solution you suggested might be deemed acceptable by God. However, since there could be an infinite number of situations each with it’s own set of parameters, we can only relate the principle stance on any issue. If a person in a particular situation thinks that he’ll be able to make a case for his exceptional situation in front of God then he might be justified in taking certain liberties. At the end of the day each person has to make his own decision and we should refrain from making blanket fatwas.
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I totally agree with you Faisal!
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Following may also be relevant in this regard:
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