Different between zakat income and income tax?
following is the difference between Tax and Zakat
1. A tax is levied on all the citizens of the state while Zakat
is levied only on the Muslim members of the society.
2. Zakat is a compulsory payment which must be paid by the
Muslims and tax is also a compulsory payment but it is remittable
by the government of the state. The Zakat is not remit tenable.
3. Zakat has a religious sanctity behind it because it is one of
the five pillars of Islam. But a tax is a compulsory contribution
to the state to cover the cost of services rendered by it for the
general benefit of the people.
4. The rate of Zakat (i.e. 2.5%) is fixed by the God in the Holy
Quran and cannot be changed by the government of the state from
time to time to meet its requirements.
5. The nature of the sources of Zakat is fixed but the sources
of a tax are variable. The sources of a tax can be diversified in
accordance with the need of revenue requirements.
6. The income collected from Zakat can only be spent on deserves
of Zakat. The specified items of deserves are laid down by the Holy
Quran but taxes can be spent on various requirements as determined
by the government of a state.