What is the ruling on filling out tax forms imposed by Western countries, knowing that abstaining from doing so leads to a financial penalty, and that dealing with them involves usurious transactions?
Taxes vary between what is permissible and what is forbidden by . If a person is forced to pay unjust taxes, he is not held accountable for that, whether he pays them as they are or with an increase. This increase is not considered usury (riba), but rather a multiplication of the original penalty.
If the tax authority takes an excess amount and then returns it, it is a recoverable right and not usury.
However, usury can be conceived in two cases:
1. If a person is liable for a permissible tax and delays paying it, then is compelled to pay it with an increase, this increase can be considered usury.
2. If the tax is permissible and more than required is taken, then more than what is necessary is returned, the increase is usury, and it must be returned. However, if he was forced to pay usury for the delay, he is permitted to take back what he paid (the issue of "al-Dhafr" - acquiring one's right by force).
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