Huge sums withdrawn from banks to evade Zakat deduction

[Naveed Yaseen]

Riaz Khan Daudzai
PESHAWAR: Thousands of the account holders, including a number of businessmen and government officials had withdrawn million of rupees to avert Zakat deduction from their accounts.

Majority of the account holders seeking withdrawal of their amounts just for a day or two to avoid Zakat deduction said they were doing so as they were not sure of the utilisation of the amount deducted from the accounts.

Ajmal Hayat (real name withheld) said he did not want to waste his Zakat, as “the government departments are not working according to the Islamic tenets and our money deducted as Zakat will not be properly utilised.”

He said that he had two accounts, one is Zakat-exempted to which he has shifted his entire amount from the other account in the last week of Shaaban.Akram, another businessmen, however, said that he had just phoned the manager of the branch where he has account, who drew his amount of about Rs70,000 and which he is keeping in his own drawer to redeposit it on Tuesday.

There was sizable rush in banks of the account holders seeking instantaneous withdrawal on Saturday.A businessman dealing in automobiles business said he had given an affidavit to his banks for Zakat exemption as he personally distributes Zakat to the deserving whom he knows very well.

The government has fixed a minimum amount of Rs20,889 as ‘nisab’ for the Zakat on bank deposits to be deducted on the first day of Ramazan. According to a notification issued here Friday, no deduction of Zakat at source shall be made in case the amount standing to the credit of an account in respect of the assets is less than the amount fixed as ‘nisab’ on the first day of Ramazan.

The State Bank of Pakistan and all offices of the SBP Banking Services Corporation, including the Public Debt Offices and banks and DFIs, will remain closed for public dealing for deduction of Zakat on the first of Ramazan. But as the first of Ramazan falls on Sunday, the bank holiday will be on Monday (today) for Zakat deduction.

A bank officer, pleading anonymity, said thousands of the people including a large number of the businessmen drew millions of rupees from their accounts in all the scheduled banks in the provincial metropolis to avert the deduction of annual Zakat from their amounts. He said the bank officials have also been hand in glove with these account holders and many of these officials draw and redeposit millions of rupees to avert Zakat deduction on behalf of their clients.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=194646