Description
Zakat is a religiously mandated annual payment that all financially able Muslims must make to the poor. There is much debate in Muslim countries as to whether it should be treated as a state tax. In Australia, this debate is moot; its legal status is that of charitable giving. Donations to Australian ‘Islamically-coded’ registered charities is a prevalently used mechanism by which zakat is collected and distributed. Somewhat ironically, this preserves the classical Islamic jurisprudential status of zakat abandoned by some Muslim countries. Nonetheless, there are some problematic features of this mechanism relating to financial transparency and accountability, distribution of funds, and tax deductibility. It is argued that major structural change is not viable, but some reforms are possible. There are lessons in this for Indonesia, which is currently exploring its own reforms to zakat collection and distribution.| Period | 15 Oct 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | International Conference on Islamic Economics, Business, Banking and Finance 2024 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Bengkulu, IndonesiaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
