Zakat Or IRD ?

Raja Petra : "I urge all Muslims to pay their zakat and fitrah in any one of the five Pakatan Rakyat states. Are you aware that you can pay zakat in lieu of your income tax? And you can request that your salary be deducted monthly and the money be sent to the state zakat office instead of to the IRD."

"No, it is not exemption from tax like if you were to donate to a tax-exempt charity. It is zakat in lieu of tax. That means when you pay zakat you need not pay income tax.Say you have to pay RM1,000 income tax per month on your salary (or RM12,000 per year if you pay annually). You just pay the money to the zakat office instead and send the receipt to the IRD and consider your income tax fully paid.Why do this? Well, when you pay to the IRD, the money goes to the Federal Government and Umno will use the money. But when you pay zakat the state gets to keep the money and in the five Pakatan Rakyat states for sure Umno will not be able to get its hands on the money."

"Think about it. Zakat is mandatory under Islam. So you will be fulfilling your Islamic duty plus you will be helping the five Pakatan Rakyat states plus you will be denying Umno that money. That’s killing three birds with one stone.Okay, zakat is only 2.5% of your wealth (zakat harta) or income (zakat pendapatan) while income tax is higher. So, pay the higher figure. After all, you will have to pay it anyway whether you pay zakat or income tax. And imagine how many poor and destitute people, the homeless, students who need financial aid or scholarships, orphans, single mothers, old folks who can’t work, handicapped people, etc., can be helped with this zakat money."