AssalamuAlaikum brothers. There are muslims who work in tax authorities in the UK and other western nations. These organisations allow Muslims to rise through the ranks in a way which is not always possible in other corporate environments on account of their Equality and Diversity policies. Recently, a discussion took place about the permissibility of working in such an organisation. To my understanding I have some reservations about the suitability of Muslims working for such an organisation which I will try to set out concisely: 1) HMRC is the tax authority of the UK. It is obligated to collect all taxes legislated which are used to fund the nations activities including most controversially recently, funds in support of the illegal entities operations. The entity's flag was even flown above several offices. The majority of expenditure is however for regular public services such as benefits, old age pensions, adult social care, schools and hospitals. 2) As part and parcel of many roles in this organisation, employees must deal with interest in terms of calculating amounts owed, pursuing the payment of the aforementioned calculated amounts and negotiating settlements of such outstanding amounts. This interest dealing element cannot be opted out of by the employees/authority or the person it is charged against or given to as its expressly required by statute. A Tax inspector cannot simply waive the interest on a late paying taxpayer. Is working for such an organisation permissible at all or does it depend on the role or function the employee is carrying out? A Tax inspector is directly responsible for assessing amounts of tax and interest but someone working as a Race Equality Officer isn't involved directly with tax calculation or the interest elements. I respectfully request knowledgeable brothers for their advice and comments on this matter.
