Taiz merchants complain about the increase in the amounts of zakat and the levies of the influential leaders

English - Saturday 01 April 2023 الساعة 10:22 pm
Taiz, NewsYemen, exclusive

 The Office of Duties and Zakat in Taiz imposed an increase in zakat for this year on businessmen by between 200 and 300% compared to last year.

According to merchants in the city of Taiz, the Zakat Duties Office raised zakat fees this year by 300%, to be paid with official bonds, at a time when half of the amount is paid without official bonds for a number of businessmen and merchants, according to the accounts of many merchants.

They said that employees of duties and zakat are asking merchants to pay 50 to 60% of the value of zakat into their pockets without official bonds.

The big merchants in the city pay zakat to influential security and military leaders in the city, far from the zakat office.

The city's merchants complain about paying zakat twice in the month of Ramadan, and say that they pay zakat with official bonds to the office, while other military and security leaders and through their armed elements impose levies on small merchants under the name of zakat, according to a number of merchants who spoke to NewsYemen.

A commercial source told NewsYemen that the increase in the payment of zakat multiplies the obstacles and difficulties they face in light of the living conditions in the city, the collapse of the currency and the rise in prices.

A source in the Taiz merchants' conglomerate told NewsYemen that they intend to escalate in the coming days in rejection of these practices by the Zakat Office and the military and security leaders, and to file a complaint with the governor of Taiz in this regard.

On Thursday, dozens of merchants protested in the Al-Ma'afer district, rejecting the campaign of arrests against shop owners and the imposition of exorbitant sums of money in zakat fees and duties.