Emirates
Business 24-7, 03 September 2009
A law to impose zakat on Islamic banks, insurance companies and investment firms has been delayed because the Ministerial Council For Services has been referred to the Zakat Fund for further study, the fund said yesterday.
Jamal Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Director of Zakat Resources and Information Department, told Emirates Business: "The Zakat Fund had drawn up an integral draft law to impose zakat on Islamic financial institutions in the country such as banks, insurance companies, property developers and Islamic investment companies. It was referred to the Ministerial Council for Services, which decided to return it for further study. Then, it was delayed and frozen."
"In case zakat is imposed on Islamic institutions in the UAE in 2011, it will be an alternative to the value added tax," he added.
"Though the Zakat Fund is a federal institution assigned to collect zakat, its revenues are very low. Zakat money that has been collected since the fund's inception six years ago does not exceed Dh130 million, though some statistics claim the total annual zakat money in the UAE tops Dh6 billion," said Al Mazrouei yesterday at a conference held at the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED) to announce the First Abu Dhabi Zakat Forum organised by the DED , Zakat Fund, General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf and Red Crescent Authority.
More than 70 representatives from ministries, government bodies, charity institutions, and Islamic banks and companies are among the participants.
On the investment of the fund's money, Al Mazrouei said: "The money that we have is little; it is hardly sufficient to provide aid for around 600 UAE nationals and expatriate families in the country, and we don't have surpluses. If we had surpluses, we would have invested them in development projects."
He added that the fund has introduced an awareness campaign in the media on zakat, which aims to collect Dh50m this year.
The fund's statistics in the first quarter this year confirm that Zakat collection rose by about 30 per cent compared to the same period in 2008. The global recession actually had a positive effect, as many sections of society paid their zakat.
By Abdel Hai Mohamad
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
