Cheating On Your Taxes..

[hamza1892]

I know a lot of people that cheat on there taxes. Many people justify it as being ok because everyone else does it and its not fair for they save money and the people that are honest get screwed. Could this situation be justified as being ok or what?

thanks

Edited January 28, 2021 by Mahdavist

[farazhaider88]

i dont think its ok, you are doing wrong.

[Goku]

Sallam Alykum

It is haraam. Don't let anyone fool you thinking it's hallal. You are lying for one, which is haraam. The money you get from tax returns becomes haraam, and whatever you end up buying with that money is haraam. It is plain fiqh logic.

It is obligatory to follow government rules as long as it doesn't impede on your Islamic duties. Doing your taxes correctly does not at all impede your religious life thus by breaking the government law you are committing a third sin.

Some say that the government is corrupt so it is okay, well in this case the Muslims should just move to another country where practicing Islam becomes easier for them.

According to Sayed Sistani:

Q198: Is it permissible for a Muslim to provide incorrect information to government agencies in Europe to obtain through legal channels privileges and financial or non-financial facilities?

A: That is not permissible for it constitutes lying and for whatever has been mentioned, there is no justification for that.

Question :

Is it permissible to lie about your qualification in order to get a government post?

Answer :

It is not permissible.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Goku

[Gypsy]

Get a good accountant. He/She would make sure you get all your deductions.

And I've seen a lot of Muslim cheats on a range of issues from committing immigration fraud, to cheating in their taxes and lying to gain benefits.I don't know how people can justify cheating.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Gypsy

[Abbas.]

Speaking of tax, I got a refund of $6,000 this year :D Apparantly, i was over-taxed....

Back on topic - ofcourse cheating is not justified. But it has become a norm. Many accountants know how to (and how much to) add stuff to our list of expenditures. And we just sit quiet hoping for the best. It's a temptation. When he asks you questions like, "So ofcourse you gave some charity which maybe around $300 a year right?", you have to decide either to pick the honest & difficult path of saying, "No sir, i did not. In fact, i am broke and actually in need of charity myself" or you can choose the easy & greedy way out by saying, "Ofcourse, i've got some receipts at home. Actually i paid around $500 per annum". And so forth ....

[Goku]

Speaking of tax, I got a refund of $6,000 this year :D Apparantly, i was over-taxed....

Back on topic - ofcourse cheating is not justified. But it has become a norm. Many accountants know how to (and how much to) add stuff to our list of expenditures. And we just sit quiet hoping for the best. It's a temptation. When he asks you questions like, "So ofcourse you gave some charity which maybe around $300 a year right?", you have to decide either to pick the honest & difficult path of saying, "No sir, i did not. In fact, i am broke and actually in need of charity myself" or you can choose the easy & greedy way out by saying, "Ofcourse, i've got some receipts at home. Actually i paid around $500 per annum". And so forth ....

bro would you like to send me some money? This is thawab for you=]

[Abbas.]

bro would you like to send me some money? This is thawab for you=]

i zont share my zaxt money with no umati.

you have to be a shia syed hasani husaini akhbari subcontinenti malangi to get a share of my hard earned dollars !

[Ya Aba 3abdillah]

Whether it's 'ok' or not, let's put that to the side for a second.

The real question is, will a person, as a Muslim, be punished on the day of judgement for cheating on their taxes?

[Ya Imam-e-Zamana Adrikni]

First off, there is a huge difference between tax avoidance, which is completely legal and should be practiced to the utmost, and cheating on your taxes, which implies you are out right lying as opposed to taking advantage of the complexities of the insane US tax code. Not sure how it works in other countries. Most people are practicing tax avoidance which some might think is cheating on your taxes, but according to the IRS and legal authorities it is not a crime. Even Mitt Romney recently said that a President who is so dumb as to overpay his taxes should be fired. I think this was a partial defense of him paying a far lower rate than the average person.

In terms of will you be punished for out right cheating, which as shown in the ruling by Ayatollah Sistani (HA) and which is shared by other fuquha is not permissible, I think there is little doubt that it is a sin and thus worthy of being punished. The argument that the US is using these tax dollars for nefarious purposes, which it is in many respects, and we therefore how could it be a sin are weak in my opinion. The main reason being that if the US is that evil of a country in your mind that it is totally unworthy to pay any taxes into, you really should not live in such a county because your mere presence is somewhat affirming that which you deem to be completely evil. Regardless, one way or another we all pay taxes, whether it is sales tax, property tax, etc. By living in a country there is no real way around that.

[Aftahb]

Its fine to fight oppressor in every single way possible, espeically with those who ally with israel and are in hope of destroyin AL AQSA garden and Later the MOSK>> U foolish ppl WAKE UP>> LOOK wats about to happen.

WHen imam ali comes to ur grave and ask why didnt fight back? Do bring all ur bs excuses in the name of Islam LOL

[ThE-Samz]

^LOOOOOL omdz, ur posts always crack me up aftahb

[kadhim]

First off, there is a huge difference between tax avoidance, which is completely legal and should be practiced to the utmost, and cheating on your taxes, which implies you are out right lying as opposed to taking advantage of the complexities of the insane US tax code. Not sure how it works in other countries. Most people are practicing tax avoidance which some might think is cheating on your taxes, but according to the IRS and legal authorities it is not a crime. Even Mitt Romney recently said that a President who is so dumb as to overpay his taxes should be fired. I think this was a partial defense of him paying a far lower rate than the average person. In terms of will you be punished for out right cheating, which as shown in the ruling by Ayatollah Sistani (HA) and which is shared by other fuquha is not permissible, I think there is little doubt that it is a sin and thus worthy of being punished. The argument that the US is using these tax dollars for nefarious purposes, which it is in many respects, and we therefore how could it be a sin are weak in my opinion. The main reason being that if the US is that evil of a country in your mind that it is totally unworthy to pay any taxes into, you really should not live in such a county because your mere presence is somewhat affirming that which you deem to be completely evil. Regardless, one way or another we all pay taxes, whether it is sales tax, property tax, etc. By living in a country there is no real way around that.

Yeah. Don't lie or break the law, but a person can really save and benefit a lot from simply becoming aware of all the possible deductions or legal tricks to minimize taxes. It's amazing all the hidden legal gems of savings you can find if you do the investigations.

[struggling_On]

It's immoral and a sin to lie in tax returns, if u want ur taxes or taxable income to be low then do tax planning, cheating u r referring to is called Tax evasion and it is illegal activity, it also carries the risk of criminal prosecution ( fines and / imprisonment ) if caught, but u can avoid paying high tax, the term usually used for this is " tax avoidance" which is allowable by most Tax authorities around the world.

Honestly brother do Tax planning rather than cheating.........

Edited July 31, 2012 by struggling_On

[Aftahb]

It's immoral and a sin to lie in tax returns, if u want ur taxes or taxable income to be low then do tax planning, cheating u r referring to is called Tax evasion and it is illegal activity, it also carries the risk of criminal prosecution ( fines and / imprisonment ) if caught, but u can avoid paying high tax, the term usually used for this is " tax avoidance" which is allowable by most Tax authorities around the world.

Honestly brother do Tax planning rather than cheating.........

if its a sin to lie then its not less than shirk to let gutter holes footlickin sons of [Edited Out]s use OUR TAX MONEY TO SUPPORT ISRAEL KILLING PALESTINEI PPL. u freakin nutshell , all sharia rlues r with justice ---no justice so no Sharia!

do us all a [EDITED] favor, use ur tax papers for cleaning ur toilet.

IF we dont cry tears of blood today , who the hell will mourn tomo?

A revolution starts just by a spark, we the ppl of today hve to start this NOW.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Haji 2003
disallowed word

[Aftahb]

^LOOOOOL omdz, ur posts always crack me up aftahb

:)

[struggling_On]

if its a sin to lie then its not less than shirk to let gutter holes footlickin sons of [Edited Out]s use OUR TAX MONEY TO SUPPORT ISRAEL KILLING PALESTINEI PPL. u freakin nutshell , all sharia rlues r with justice ---no justice so no Sharia!

do us all a dam favor, use ur tax papers for cleaning ur toilet.

IF we dont cry tears of blood today , who the hell will mourn tomo?

A revolution starts just by a spark, we the ppl of today hve to start this NOW.

hmmm, Well That's very offensive way of expressing your emotions towards someone u don't even know, -_- . I don't know whether it's a shirk or not but i do know abusing and insulting people is one of the sins u should be afraid of.

As for as I know according to principles of morality two wrongs do not make anything right, unless u blend it with algebra where two negatives makes a positive (-) * (-)= +"....................... ^_^

And best of Luck with ur revolution, May u be martyred at very first step, ;) God bless u.......................

P.S

Oh God,That was my hundredth post, i never thought i would post that long and def. not in response to post like this :squeez:

Edited August 1, 2012 by struggling_On

[Noura_Shi'a]

I know a lot of people that cheat on there taxes. Even the people I look up to for advice, like the imam and sheik. Many people justify it as being ok because everyone else does it and its not fair for they save money and the people that are honest get screwed. Could this situation be justified as being ok or what?

thanks

Basicly, we have to think about two cases here:

(these theories r based on where i live, which i dont want to mention but i will explain how it is here)

1. In our muslim community, there r ppl who came here with their family for 5-10 years ago from their homecountries (im specially saying 5-10 years ago, because these newly immigrated ppl r the worst in this case). That may be because of war etc. Then the government gives them a so called "social support" in form of money. Many of these ppl decide to NOT work or do anything good for the society, because they r getting money from the government. Easy money, and they dont need to pay any taxes! And u guys may think that these ppl may not be able to work because of some physical problems, but trust me, they r hanging out in the mall 24/7 when they r lying to the government about why they dont work.

2. Here where i live, the taxes r too high. I know that really well because im working some days when i dont have schooldays going on, and i nearly pay half of my salary (37-45%). I also have dad that have to pay nearly $15000 each year. Here we call the government for "thiefs", because they r taking so much and not doing much good for it. Even my homecountry (Turkey) have better roads than the country im living in now! It is even worse when i live in one of the most expencive country in Europe, but maybe the world to. So one of the solutions r to work in a way that u dont pay taxes for a certain period, like many here does just to save a bit money and take good care of their family.

Of course we have to think in an Islamic way, but i also do think about the differences in each case.

[5a49]

You know what I find hilarious.

People asking questions in here as if the members are Maraje'. I feel that some people ask these questions to try and find excuses.

Why dont you send an Estifta to your Marja' and wait for his answer.

When you die, and Allah asks you why you did something, what will you say? I asked the opinions of members on ShiaChat?

Our family cheats on their taxes... And my family is like so religious... If you think about it, where are the taxes going to?

I dont know with all my respect who your family members are, but I believe according to Islam we look at our Prophets, Imams, and Muslim leaders and try to be like them, because those are the true Idols of Islam.

[WhiteSkies]

In many countries a lot of the tax money goes to building/repairing infrastructure, for schools and in the UK also the NHS. I understand that some people don't want their money being used for war or other things, but much of it is meant to be used for improving the standard of living for the citizens of the country.. :donno:

In answer to the OP, I think some people have already mentioned this but cheating on your taxes and avoiding paying tax through certain legal loop holes, are two different things, the former is illegal but the latter is not.

[hamza1892]

Thanks everyone for your input, I will keep that in mind.

[AliHussainFaraji]

You should keep in mind if you live in a Western nation that a lot your tax dollars are going to Israel.

[Replicant]

Salaam,

We met Ayatollah Sistani in 2010 and this question was posed to him. He categorically said you must pay your taxes properly and it is not allowed to evade or cheat on them. He said you must obey the laws of the land in a non-Muslim country and represent Shia Islam in a good light. If you are evading tax, you are making Muslims look very bad and even worse, you are going to make people think that Shia Muslims are dishonest. The responsibilty of being a Shia in a non-Muslim country is very big so you must be a good representative of your faith.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Replicant

[MAFHHM]

I have a question,

What if you

a)are not a citizen, & dont receive special facilities provided for citizens -but you just do business there - so no citizen facilities for you, but have to pay tax, for e.g. importation custom duty tax.

b)you feel the country is not fair - trying to earn every way possible via unreasonable high fines for every mistake they can find,etc. So add their taxes to it as well, although you are not a citizen. So facilities are for citizens -like free school, medical,etc, but you gotta pay their tax

c)Zakat & Khums are the only wajib taxes in Islam that we acknowledge. SO who cares about some man made taxes that may be created to get revenue from your hard earned cash for governments not established by Imam MahdiÚáíå ÇáÓáÇã?

d)So you feel you are doing yourself good and doing them bad by playing with these un-islamic taxes, that might in the end of the day help the bad people.

As for the people of the West, are the Government really justified to receive taxes ?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ-ayV0kHUA

Edited August 17, 2012 by MAFHHM

[Guest Hilal]

It is very important to understand the whole process. When a person is filling Income Tax, he or she has to disclose the total income of the financial year.

1. In case one does not disclose the correct income, then the person is telling a LIE. Allah detest lie & liars.

2. After disclosing incorrect income, he or she will pay less tax on that less income, which means that the person is commiting a FRAUD.

3. Most important, one needs to follow the law of the land, if you don't follow the law then you are a CRIMINAL.

[smma]

I'll never pay taxes unless the govt utilises every single penny I pay in a good and halal manner, which no govt in the world does. 

[Abu_Zahra]

8 hours ago, smma said:

I'll never pay taxes unless the govt utilises every single penny I pay in a good and halal manner, which no govt in the world does. 

In that case dont use the free services that those taxes provide (education, welfare, medical)