The Tax Systems Between Contemporary Financial and Islamic Financial Thought ( A comparative Analytical Study)

The importance of the tax system depends mainly on its ability to achieve its goals. Each country seeks to achieve its economic and social goals through the use of several types of taxes that form the tax system. The country may concentrate on one type of taxes or more. Taxes differ according to tax income. There are taxes on capital, others on persons. Taxes are direct and indirect. Some are on capital, on income, on expenditures. Countries make tax legislation's and laws, including rates, estimates, and ways of levying taxes. Islamic tax system contains several taxes, for instance, alms (Zakat) was enforced on Muslims only, by the holly Quran, within certain concepts. Land was taxed by abscess ( Al Kharaj), and non- Muslims were taxed by tribute ( Jizya) based on persons, progressive, and suites the ability to pay the tax. This research compares analytically between contemporary and Islamic tax system, through comparing types of taxes of each system, and then analytically between the two systems, through emerging characteristics and specialties including goals, purposes, and the kinds of taxes within each system. Several academic books, references, and researches, were investigated, besides, using several sites on the internet, to compare tax systems and procedures in several countries theoretically and practically (Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine), were also studied. Saudi Arabia's laws for income tax, and alms ( Zakat) were used to be applied on several practical studies. It was found that the Islamic taxes have similarity with the contemporary tax systems, in terms of standards, definition, roots, goals, and types. So there were Islamic direct and indirect taxes, but, the Islamic system concentrates mainly on the direct taxes rather than indirect taxes, while the difference is apparent in the source of legislation. Islam determined certain concepts to force new tax, that the country can't over pass. The most important of these concepts are: the necessity of it, the ability to achieve equity, and to be taken from the rich. Each of Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine adopts types of direct and indirect taxes. Saudi Arabia is the only country which adopts collecting alms (Zakat) by law, with a rate of 2.5%. Some recommendations were derived from the study, They are divided into three groups, firstly a scientific recommendation, secondly adopting Islamic tax system, thirdly recommendations concerning Palestinian tax system.