Can I Claim Tax Refunds From Zakat and Charity Payments Without Losing Reward?


Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Question:

Paid zakat & sadaqa, which I was able to legitimately claim as tax deductions. I claimed them as tax deductions & received a corresponding tax refund. For the avoidance of doubt, doing so was lawful. I expect it is religiously preferred to donate the refund rather than keep it. My question is: can I donate this money to any place I choose? I want to know whether there are rules/restrictions given that the refund I received is a benefit originally arising from a zakat/sadaqa payment.

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate

Walaikum assalam,

I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.

A tax refund, rebate, or deduction is a reduction in one’s tax obligations. Accepting such a refund or deduction doesn’t affect the reward of one’s zakat or charity.

One should keep one’s intention in giving charity sincerely for the sake of Allah, even when recognizing any tax benefits of giving.

You don’t need to give any such refunds or rebates away in charity.

Allah Most High tells us of the giving of His righteous servants, who say, “We feed you only for the sake of Allah Himself.” [Quran, 76.9]

And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.

[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center