Zakat and Ushr

Aziz, F., Fahim, S. M., Saleem, F. & Khan, M. F. U. (2013).Al-Zakat: Taxation Model in Public Finance.
http://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEDS/article/view/9014/9109

The authors discuss Islam’s perspective on Zakat and its link with what they believe is tax in an Islamic economy. A fixed percentage i.e. 2.5{5fae829be7f2ac2fe240ef3893666b371329fe804754bc76382cc5045395a053} is imposed as a religious tax on the Muslims that have gold, silver and some animals above a threshold level. The rate for zakat is considered fixed. The authors suggest that Quran has used this term for the taxation system of an Islamic state. Different reasons from Quran can be given to prove this claim, e.g. Quran has separated al-zakat from al-sadaqat and expenditure in the way of Allah and do not consider it as a donation, imposition of al-zakat is associated with trying to obtain power. The authors discuss the claims made regarding its sufficiency in an Islamic economic system. Authors highlight the difference between al-zakat and infaq. The authors claim that the rates defined for zakat in Quran are actually defined for al-sadqas and hence zakat payment scale is relative and can be changed over time.

Lorenz, C. (2013). Informal taxation systems- Zakat and Ushr in Pakistan as example for the relevance of parallel/ semi- public dues.
http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/51138/

This article provides an overview of the religious background of Zakat and the organization of Zakat collection in several Islamic countries. Zakat and Ushr collected in Pakistan is targeted on areas like social welfare, education and health care for certain population groups. The article discusses whether an Islamic state according to Islamic laws is entitled to collect additional revenues like taxes apart from Zakat. Taking into account the religious actors and involvement of Mullahs, the authors try to determine the impact of their promotion on public awareness. Formally the tax to GDP ratio does not change since Zakat is statistically classified as social assistance benefits, which do not become part of the tax to GDP indicator. The authors also specify the types of Zakat that are included in the calculation of the tax to GDP ratio.