Do We Need to Pay Back Money in Benefits if it Needs Repaying?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
As a family, we left the UK in 2005 for 11 months to live in Tunisia; my parents intended to remain there. They then changed their minds, and we returned to the UK for five months. Following this, we moved to Algeria for nine months, intending to live there permanently, but again, my parents changed their minds. Both times we moved abroad, we never informed the British Government, so we continued to receive child benefits and tax credits. My mum roughly recalls reading that if you leave the country for more than three months, you must inform the government so they can stop the benefits; my dad told her she didn’t need to, which she believed naively. Do we need to pay these back, and is my mother responsible to Allah?
Answer
I would like you to read the links below on the guidelines for child and tax credits if one moves abroad. You are responsible to the government. If you need to pay back, then there are ways you may pay back in this link. As a principle, money is always returned to its original owner.
[Taqi Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu’]
- Child Benefit if you leave the UK – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Tax credits if you leave or move to the UK: Going abroad – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Repay and manage benefit money you owe: Part One – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- How Do I Get Rid Of Haram Money? – SeekersGuidance
- (352) 88 – Deception, Cheating, & Concern – Birgivi’s The Path of Muhammad Explained – Sh. Faraz Rabbani – YouTube
- Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart: Hamza Yusuf: 9780985565909: Amazon.com: Books (Book)
- Prayer of Repentance: Salat al-Tawba – SeekersGuidance
[Mawlana]Ilyas Patel
