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Abdul Hamid added only the northern state of Kedah now made the payment of "fitrah" and "padi" tithes compulsory. "We will also make Zakat (tithe) payment easy through bank warrants and the use of e-Zakat or electronic Zakat through the Internet," he said.
Tithes collected just in the Federal Territory, which covers Kuala Lumpur, total 55 million ringgit ($14.47 million) a year. Abdul Hamid said 35 percent of those who paid the tithes were government employees. Some 25 percent came from businesses and the rest from individuals.
The tithe payment is one of the five pillars of Islam and funds are used to reduce poverty among Muslims. "Presently, there are no laws to punish those who do not pay tithes. It is all on a voluntary basis," an official with the Kuala Lumpur religious affairs department told AFP.
The official said there were two types of tithes in Islam, "fitrah" and "harta" (or property). Fitrah is paid based on the prevailing price of rice while harta is divided into various categories such as savings, agriculture and business, he said. Islam exempts the poor from paying tithes.
A party controlling the northeastern state of Terengganu earlier sparked a furor over its plan to impose an Islamic-based "kharaj" tax on non-Muslims. The Parti Islam SeMalaysia said later the tax would only be introduced once legislation was in place to ensure non-Muslims would not be double-taxed.
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