Paying Zakah to the Zakat and Income Authority While Having Debts

The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. There is currently a Zakat and Income Authority, which is the body responsible for collecting zakah from commercial establishments and the like. I have a commercial establishment, but I have debts, and I do not have money that reaches the nisab, especially due to the excess debts. Is it permissible for me to circumvent the Zakat and Income Authority and not give them what they ask of me, claiming that it is not zakah?

The Shaykh:
If the one in authority asks for it, you pay it to him. This is a representative of the one in authority. So if the zakah is requested, you pay it to him and you are discharged of it. Because it is in the hand of the one in authority. And the one in authority bears the responsibility. You are discharged of your obligation by that.
As for saying you have debts. Debts do not prevent zakah on the money that is in your possession. If you have money.
Whether it is trade goods or currency, zakah is obligatory on it. So the existence of debt does not prevent its obligation on the money that is with you, even if you have this debt. This is the correct view. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send collectors to collect the zakah, and he did not tell them to ask people if they had debts or if they did not have debts? He sent them to collect the zakah and did not order them to investigate whether people had debts or not? The money that has been possessed for a lunar year and reaches the nisab, even if its owner has [debts].

The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The Zakat and Income Authority compels merchants and institutions to pay the zakat amount, and this is estimated according to their systemic measures and does not adhere to the Sharia standard. They may take more than the zakah, and they may take less. So if they take less than the zakah, am I discharged of my obligation, or is it obligatory for me to pay the remainder afterwards?

The Shaykh:
You pay them from the zakat what they ask for, and the remainder is with you, you pay it out. The remainder of the zakat, you pay it out. And you pay them what they ask for from the zakat. This is paying the one in authority. Yes.

The questioner:
We say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.

The Shaykh:
They take more than the zakat. You are discharged by the zakat and the excess. This is a matter whose ruling is known to the one in authority, may Allah know best. I do not know about it. The excess. It is not the intended purpose. The reason for taking the excess. Yes. As for the zakat. This is like the speech. The zakat must be paid out. Either in the hand of the one in authority if he asks for it, or in the hand of [someone] who pays it out to the poor. Yes.