Many Islamic countries are facing zakat governance issues including transparency, trust, inconsistency of zakat law with al-Quran and hadith, non-compliance and bureaucracy. Despite of the ongoing issues, little is known about zakat system in Islamic countries particularly the high-income Islamic countries. The high-income Islamic countries should be exemplary models to other Islamic countries as they have unlimited resources to build a dynamic zakat system that includes participation from renowned Islamic scholars to give opinions and fatwa on zakat law and the use of modern technologies to promote transparency and compliance. This study adopts a content analysis technique to analyse zakat system in seven high-income Islamic countries -Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The data of zakat governance, zakat collection, zakat distribution, transparency, use of modern technology, issues and recognitions for each country were collected and analysed. This study added value to the minimal zakat system literature in Islamic countries. It is hoped that a harmonized zakat system can be adopted by Islamic countries and a strong commitment by all Islamic countries members to help asnaf particularly those who live in the under-developed countries.Keywords: Zakat, high-income Islamic countries, zakat system. Allah SWT mentions the responsibility of a Muslim to pay zakat 30 times in the al-Quran which 28 verses are combined with the obligation to perform prayers. This affirms the importance of zakat in Shariah of Islam. By performing the obligation, not only Muslims get rewards from Allah SWT but also strengthen relationship between Muslims and assisting the country to reduce poverty. Allah SWT explains in the al-Quran that performing zakat is one the main indicators of a good Muslim who gets rewards and blessings from Allah SWT in the world and the life of here after. Muslims who pay zakat can cleanse their wealth and avoid negative attitudes such as selfishness and greed.Allah SWT also explains in the al-Quran, in surah at-Taubah verse 60 that zakat collected must be distributed specifically to eight group of beneficiaries or asnaf -the poor, destitute, amil (zakat collector), muallaf (non-Muslims who embraced Islam), riqab (persons who want to free themselves from bondage of slavery), gharimin (persons in debt but need assistance for their basic needs), fisabilillah (persons who strives in the cause of Allah for the betterment of community) and ibnusabil (stranded travellers on permissible journey). Zakat collected cannot be used for other purposes and the asnaf has the right to receive zakat to improve their economic and social position.Two types of zakat that must be paid by Muslims are zakat fitr and zakat mal or zakat on wealth. The former is a yearly zakat payment compulsory to all Muslims; zakat fitr must be paid between the first day of Ramadhan until prior to the Eid Fitri prayer on the first day of Syawal. The latter is zakat on several types of wealth including ...
Several international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations (UN), and World Bank recommend that policymakers implement an environmental tax to reduce climate change, protect the environment and gain more income for governments. Effectiveness of the policy depends on a carefully designed framework, which essentially adopts the social and economic contextual of a country and public support. Researchers have been focusing on examining the factors that influence public acceptance of an environmental tax. This paper aims to systematically review the empirical studies using the RepOrting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) protocol. The information is relevant for policy makers in designing a feasible and acceptable carbon tax policy. Furthermore, the paper provides suggestions for future research. Related articles were selected using two leading databases, namely Scopus and Science Direct, and one supporting database, namely Google Scholar. Thematic analysis was conducted on 60 articles and four main themes were derived with 32 subthemes. The analysis indicates that people are more supportive when they (i) are well informed about a policy’s effectiveness and the policy content, particularly the use of revenue, (ii) have high trust in the government, (iii) have a positive attitude toward protecting the environment, (iv) perceive the policy is fair in terms of costs distribution and social sharing, and (v) are concerned about the climate change issue.
Abstract. The Malaysian government introduced the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) starting from 1 April 2015 to enhance the revenue collections and mitigate the transfer pricing manipulation. Tax agents play a significant role to help businesses to comply with GST law and regulations. After one year of GST implementation, it is vital to understand tax agents' perceptions on clients' compliance behaviour and tax agents' roles in influencing compliance. A total of 30 registered tax agents completed a survey questionnaire. The analysis shows that tax agents devote their time to provide advice to their clients on meeting their GST requirements, and recording and reporting of GST transactions. Tax agents assert that clients pass on their GST responsibilities to tax agents to some extent. Tax agents also perceive that clients' compliance level is low because clients occasionally submit GST03 after the deadline, compromise the accuracy of GST03 in order to get it done on time and intentionally make errors in their records. In terms of tax agents' role in promoting compliance, the tax agents strongly agree that it is important for them to act as trusted advisors for their clients. After one year of GST implementation, this is the first study that explores tax agents' perceptions on clients' compliance and tax agents' roles in promoting compliance. The findings benefit the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) in assisting tax agents and the public for future compliance. Similar study should be adopted by countries that have recently implemented GST (for example, India) and it should be conducted to other GST players (i.e. taxpayers and RMCD officers) on annual basis to analyse the behavioural trends and identify weaknesses in GST administration.
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